My Best Friend's Boyfriend
by Shertimes02
Summary: Lucy's best friend Lisanna has been in a relationship with a student named Natsu for quite a while. But when problems start and Lucy's goal is to make the two's relationship last, she faces something even bigger: Natsu falling for her.
1. Confusion

Lucy felt as if she were falling asleep during class. Which wasn't abnormal; she was always staying up too late on her laptop. Or it could just be that her algebra class was so boring it was hard not to sleep. Of course, the most boring class of the day had to be first when she was still tired and was not able to pay attention much.

She lifted her head up when her phone buzzed in her pocket. _'What the hell...?'_ Who would be texting her this early in the morning during school, especially in class? She sighed. Lucy already knew there was only one person she knew who would do that, and that person would be none other than her best friend Lisanna. When she knew the teacher, Mrs. Scarlet, was facing the board, she quickly slid her phone out and opened up the text. Sure enough, it was Lisanna.

 _"Lucy! Wanna hang out with me and the others after school? Which I know you'll say yes, just thought I would annoy you with a text instead of waiting after school to ask you, LOL!"_

The blonde teenager groaned under her breath and put her phone away. Did Lisanna seriously not care if she got in trouble in class because of texting? But then again, her teacher Mrs. Lockser didn't care if her students texted during class. But, with Lucy telling Lisanna all about how strict Mrs. Scarlet is, she should know by now not to text her during first period. She usually answered her best friend in her other classes, but her algebra teacher could catch any student texting, as if she had eyes in the back of her head or cameras sitting everywhere and could somehow see the system somewhere on the board. Either way, Lucy had figured out not to text in her class on the first day, when Lisanna was wishing her good luck on text and got her phone taken up when she was replying.

She put her head back down on her desk, trying her best not to close her eyes. She would much rather be sleeping right now than trying to find x and y or whatever bullshit the class had to offer. But almost immediately when she put her head down, she felt a finger tap her on the head, which of course, had to be her teacher.

"That looks like a great way to take notes, Lucy. But if you don't mind, i'd rather you take notes the traditional way before I give you _another_ detention!" Her long, red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, making her furious eyes very visible.

"Yes ma'am, i'm sorry. I just need to get better sleep..." Lucy sighed, drooping her head down in embarrassment.

Mrs. Scarlet just shook her head. "Better start working on it then."

* * *

When class finally ended, Lucy found herself staring at her locker, sighing in relief that she was not only finally waking up, but that misery for her was over. _'Thank god, good classes for the rest of the day...'_

She turned around when she felt a tap on her shoulder, crossing her arms. "Well look here, it's the girl that almost got me in trouble. _Again!_ "

Her smaller, short white-haired friend Lisanna was standing there, putting a finger to her chin. "Oh...you were in that red-haired grouch's class, weren't you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "How many times do you have to be reminded that she is my first period teacher? In other words, don't text me in first period! Unless you died!"

Lisanna burst into laughter. "How am I supposed to text you if i'm dead, you weirdo?"

"My point exactly."

Now Lisanna was rolling her eyes. "You are so difficut, I don't even know why i'm best friends with you. Besides the fact that I love you and all."

Closing her locker, Lucy and Lisanna began walking to class. "You only love me because we've known each other since we were in diapers."

It was true. Since the two girls' mothers were best friends growing up, they have known each other for as long as they could remember.

"Anyways," Lisanna decided to change the subject, "You never answered my text. We on for today?"

Lucy faked a smile. "Of course we are, you know my dad's going to be at work until eight, so i'll be bored if I just sit at the house. Of course i'll have homework, but it's not like it'll take me all night."

Unfortunately, Lucy's mother, Layla, had died a few years ago in a car accident. The first year, Lucy had been so depressed that she had to miss months of school. But Lisanna had been there to comfort her, even though she was grieving as well, since Layla was like a second mom to her. Lisanna had to also comfort her mother, since her and Layla were best friends like her and Lucy. Now, since it was just her dad, who was still rough from his former wife's death, was working more to have a greater paycheck to support him and his daughter.

"Well...i'm glad you can make it." Lisanna knew not to ask about Lucy's father working so late that she hardly got to see him; not like it was gonna make her best friend feel any better.

"Who's all coming?" Lucy had to ask.

Lisanna smiled and blushed. "Natsu..."

There was silence. Lucy cringed. "And...?"

"Well, ok it's just Natsu coming. No one else."

Lucy groaned. "Come on, Lisanna! I'm not coming when it's just gonna be you and your boyfriend! Can you even imagine how awkward this is gonna be for me?"

"It's not like we make out in front of you or anything."

"I know, but still! It's just...so awkward..."

Lisanna grabbed Lucy's arm. "Come on, Lucy! Natsu may be my boyfriend, but you two are still friends. He wouldn't do anything to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Well..." The two friends made it to their second period, which they had together. "Alright. But again, you two love doves don't make me feel awkward!"

Her friend giggled as she followed behind her into the classroom. "Promise!"

* * *

Faster than Lucy had expected, school was over. Her and Lisanna were sitting on one of the front benches outside,waiting for Natsu so they could go ahead and go.

"What the hell could he be doing?" Lucy murmured.

"Wonder if he got in trouble with Mr. Redfox again..." Lisanna sighed in reply, looking over the questions she missed on her science quiz. Lucy noticed.

"How come you're so stressed out about that? You got a B!"

"Still could have done better though..."

Lucy slapped herself in the forehead. Her friend would always get upset if she didn't get an A. It was probably because her father wanted her to be perfect all the time, like some princess. "Geez, Liz! How am I supposed to convince you otherwise?"

"You won't be able to, Luce. You know that."

Lucy's head shot up at the sound of the familiar voice and her nickname only given by one person. "Hey, Natsu. And I suppose she'll believe you when you say a B is ok?"

The pink-haired boy walked in front of the girls and put a hand on Lisanna's shoulder. "Well, she definitely won't believe me, since i'm the one that passes with D's."

"Very funny," Lisanna chuckled as she stood up and planted a quick kiss on the boy's cheek. "So where are we going?"

In return, Natsu just grew a huge grin on his face. "Wherever you wanna go, sweetie." He turned to Lucy, who was looking down at her book, trying to avoid staring at them. "Is Luce coming to?"

"Of course she is!" Lisanna wrapped her arm around his, smiling with him.

"Great! The more the merrier I always say!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm pretty sure you're not the only one who's said that."

Lisanna and Natsu both laughed.

"Anyways..." Natsu began. "I would assume you girls were wondering what took me so long-"

"Lisanna figured it out," Lucy cut in, standing up and placing her book in her backpack. "You got into trouble with your History teacher, is she wrong?"

The boy's eyes widened as he turned to his girlfriend. "Wow...you really do know me! C'mere," he began to pull her in for a kiss, until he was gently shoved away. "What?"

Lisanna smirked. "Easy lover boy, we have a guest."

"Oh, right..." he laughed nervously. "Sorry 'bout that, Luce."

Finally getting her backpack zipped up, she threw it on her back. "I thought I was more than just a guest, but whatever."

"Oh Lucy, you drama queen! You know I didn't mean that!" Lisanna pulled away from Natsu to throw her arms around her friend. She then grabbed Lucy's hand in one hand, and Natsu's in the other. "Come on you two, I know where we can go!"

"Better not be fucking Victoria's Secret, or Bath and Body Works..." Natsu began to list off his girlfriend's favorite stores.

"Maybe it's Barnes 'N Noble!" Lucy chimed, which was her favorite store.

"That's even worse," Natsu gritted through his teeth.

"Now what's so bad about books?"

The boy smiled deviously. "At least Victoria's Secret has sexy models all over the place."

"Natsu!" Lisanna whined, clutching at her chest as if her heart was literally broken.

"I just love messing with you, babe!" Natsu wrapped his arm around her. "Don't worry; if you were a model, you'd be the only one I ever looked at."

Lisanna immediately giggled again. "You are too sweet, pinkie! I love you!"

 _'Pinkie? What the hell? Does it ever end?'_ Lucy thought to herself. She thought they had to at least be getting a little tired of getting all mushy and romantic all the time. But, Lucy had never been in a relationship before, so she wasn't sure. However, it's not like they just started dating. They had been dating for almost a year and a half now, so surely they calmed down quite a bit? But no, they didn't.

Sometimes, Lucy even got jealous. Used to, before Lisanna had met and fell in love with Natsu, she was the only one her best friend would hang out with, aside from her other friends at school. Now, it seemed as if she favored Natsu more than her. But Lucy knew that wasn't true, and Lisanna still loved her the same.

* * *

Before they knew it, the trio found themselves sitting at their favorite pizza place: The Pizza House. Though the name wasn't too clever, they had the best pizza. And Natsu would shove down every slice when the pizza was brought to their table. Unfortunately, Natsu had a huge appetite, and could easily eat a whole pizza, but was always sure to save some for the girls. Which was happening right now.

"Having fun, Natsu?" Lisanna giggled.

"Yes!" Natsu managed to respond through the mouthful of pizza he had. "This was an awesome idea, babe! Much better than sexy models!"

"I figured he would say that," Lucy whispered to Lisanna.

"Hey! I have an excellent idea!" Lisanna piped. "Let's go to the arcade after this! I wanna beat Natsu at that racing game with the boats! Whatever it's called..."

"Hydro Thunder!" Natsu beamed after he swallowed. "And no, you won't beat me at that."

"We'll just have to see then! And don't go easy on me!"

"Please, even if I did, you still wouldn't have a chance!"

"You're on then, baby!" Lisanna challenged.

"Oh, Lucy, you can try to beat me too, if you want." Natsu gazed at her, taking in another pizza.

"Well, that sounds fun, and thanks for the invite guys. But...I really should get home. I've got homework to do and I should clean the house before dad get's home."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Natsu finished his last slice of pizza and wiped his face off with his napkin. "We'll help you!"

"Right!" Lisanna agreed. "We aren't about to go have fun while you're stuck at the house by yourself cleaning!"

Lucy couldn't help but feel happy and lucky to have friends like these two. She didn't want anything to change between the three of them, ever. "Thanks, but no thanks. You guys go on ahead. My dad says since mom isn't around to teach me how to be a "proper mom", i've gotta work on it myself."

"Such bullshit," Natsu inquired.

"Her dad may still be upset from...well, you know. I'm sure he'll come around." Lisanna hoped, trying to lighten things up a bit.

"I doubt it." Lucy began to pick up her trash and backpack. "Seriously, you two go on ahead. I promise i'll be fine. See you both tomorrow."

"Bye Luce," Natsu waved.

"I'll text you later tonight, Lucy!" Lisanna called as her friend threw her trash away and walked out the doors.

"I feel really bad for her...her dad sounds like an ass." Natsu sighed.

"Well, he actually really is a sweet person," Lisanna fiddled with the zipper on her purse. "He's just...changed a bit since Layla died..."

Natsu sighed and stood up. "Well, I already paid. Ready to go?"

Lisanna's eyes widened. "Natsu! I'm the one who took you here! And it's not like we were on a date, we were just hanging out with Lucy! You didn't have to pay."

Her boyfriend held out his hand. "I'm always gonna pay for you, my sweet."

All she could do in return was take his hand and walk out with him, her heart soaring. "Come on, i'm gonna kick your butt at that game!"

* * *

It was about 7:30 when Lucy finally got her homework done, and cleaned the house. Now, she was just sitting at the kitchen table, reading and drinking some tea she had made. Every night, she would sit in that same spot, doing the same thing, just so she could greet her dad when he had got home and give him a hug, and tell him she loved him. Even though he was still depressed about Layla, Lucy figured an "I love you" from his daughter every night made things easier.

Soon enough, she heard his car pulling into the driveway, and the door open and close about a minute later. When she heard his footsteps enter the kitchen and turned her head, she was struck with an uneasy feeling. Her father looked rough; obviously from working so much, and hardly getting time to rest.

"Hey dad. Want some hot tea?" Lucy forced a smile.

"That'd be great, thanks." He sat his hat on the counter and took a seat, resting his head in his hand.

"I cleaned the house today, before you got home." She placed the cup of hot tea in front of him.

He took a sip of it. "Thank you for that. It really helps."

"So..." She sat down beside him. "How was work?"

She recieved a blank look from him. "Stressful, as always."

"Oh, but...surely you've had non-stressful days, right? Good days?"

"Lucy, i'm working so much. I start at seven in the morning and don't get home until eight at night."

She sighed and looked down. "I know..."

They both sat in awkward silence for awhile. He obviously wasn't going to talk to her anymore.

"Well...i'm gonna get a shower and head to bed. You should too..." She reached forward and planted a small kiss on her father's cheek. "I love you."

"Love you too," he replied blankly. Lucy was happy her dad was at least willing to say that.

* * *

When Lucy had gotten out of the shower, brushed her teeth and threw on her pajamas, she laid in bed for awhile. She started remembering the days when her mom was still alive, and how happy her and her parents were. Her dad had been much happier, as if her mother had filled a giant gap in his heart. They were both working, so there was no stress.

She looked over to where her phone was laying on her nightstand, and opened up her texts with Lisanna.

"Weird..." Lucy whispered. "Wasn't Lisanna supposed to text me tonight? She said she would..." but then she figured that her friend had something come up at home to where she couldn't. But even so, if something had come up, Lisanna would have told Lucy. She decided to go to sleep and that she would talk to her about it tomorrow. She didn't want to get another detention in algebra for falling asleep again.

* * *

Lucy had gotten enough sleep, thankfully, as she was already down at the bus stop about five minutes before it was supposed to arrive. She was relieved to find Lisanna walking up; they lived on the same street, so they rode the bus together to school. What Lucy was surprised to see was her friend looking down at the road, head drooping, instead of directly at her with a smile like always. She wondered if her friend looking sad had something to do about not texting her last night.

"Hey...you ok?" Lucy asked when she was close enough.

"Yeah, i'm fine." Her friend answered, but didn't sound convincing.

"I was just wondering, since you didn't text me last night like you said you would."

"Yeah...sorry about that. Mom wanted me to...help her with laundry."

Lucy still wasn't convinced. She could tell when her friend was lying. "Lisanna, are you sure nothing is wrong? You can tell me anything, you know that."

"I'm fine, Lucy. Don't worry."

The two stood there for awhile; Lisanna still had her head drooping down. Something was obviously wrong. So why would she not tell her best friend? _'Did she get in a fight with her mom or something?'_ Lucy wondered. But it wasn't like Lisanna and her mom to fight, so that couldn't be the case.

The bus started pulling up, and the two friends sat in the very back, which was their favorite spot. A few stops later, they stopped at a familiar house; Natsu's. He didn't live on the same street, but still lived in the same neighborhood, so he rode the bus with them. Lisanna would always lay her purse down in the spot next to her, saving a seat for him. But today, she kept her purse on her shoulder, and when they got to Natsu's house and he ran to the bus, she stiffened.

"Liz...are you alright?" Lucy put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

Surprisingly, Lisanna whipped her head around to face Lucy. "Don't say a word, alright? Just let me handle this!"

All she could do was blink in her confused state. "Handle what?"

"Lisanna!" Natsu's voice called as he hopped on the bus and started to make his way to the back.

Lucy was shocked when Lisanna stood up and faced him, anger spread across her face. "Stay away!" She yelled.

"Lisanna, listen! What you saw was a misunderstanding! I love you!"

"Sure you do, you cheater! Stay the hell away! From me and Lucy both!"

Lucy, along with the rest of the students on the bus, were watching the situation. Her mouth wide open, she stared from Lisanna's angry expression to Natsu's hurt, pleading one. In the whole year and a half they have been in a relationship, they have never fought like this, ever. They were always happy, especially together. What could have happened?

The bus driver, Laxus, looked back at the two. "If you two don't stop the yelling right now, i'll drop you both off at the principal's office!"

"You can tell him to stay away from us! He's been harassing us since day one!" Lisanna pointed a finger accusingly at Natsu.

"What!? I have not! Lisanna, babe, why would you even-"

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT! EVER AGAIN!" Lisanna screamed. Lucy's eyes were wide; she had never even seen her best friend scream at someone this way before. Lisanna was a sweet girl; she was not known to do that. Whatever Natsu had done to hurt her must have been pretty bad.

"Alright, that is enough! Natsu, sit up here at the front, now!" Laxus pointed to the seat closest to the door.

"No, wait! I can explain everythi-"

"DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD!" Even Laxus was beginning to scream, which terrified Lucy. Natsu stared at Lisanna, looking extremely hurt. His gaze slowly shifted to Lucy, who was staring right at him, shaking her head confusingly.

The pink haired boy, who always looked happy because of Lisanna, sighed in defeat and began heading up to the front seat. The rest of the ride on the way to school, she didn't even bother to ask her best friend any questions. All she could do is stare down in shock, wondering what had happened between them to cause a horrible morning like this...

* * *

 **This turned out better than I expected it to honestly...I thought it would be a good idea to write this.**

 **Anyways, feel free to write a review! And thanks for reading! Watch for future chapters!**


	2. Searching for Natsu

When the bus had stopped at the front entrance of the school, everyone plowed through to get off. They were probably getting ready to start rumors about what had just happened this morning. Natsu was the first to get off, since he was in the front. Lucy watched out the window from where she sat, expecting him to be waiting on them to talk to Lisanna. But he must have given up, dragging his feet into the building slowly, head staring straight on, not even a glance back.

The bus almost empty, Lucy took Lisanna's hand. "Hey...let's go ahead and get inside, and we'll go somewhere we can talk. Sound good?"

All her friend did was nod and stand up slowly to make her way off the bus. Every movement she made was slow, as if she had been shot in the heart with an arrow and was in pain because of it. That's how heartbroken she looked, and Lucy hated it. She swore whenever Lisanna opened up to her about what Natsu did, she would pound his face in for making her feel this way.

Once the two friends had entered the building, Lucy took Lisanna into the bathroom. Thankfully, no one was in there, so they could talk. The minute Lucy had closed the door, her troubled friend ran into one of the stalls and slammed it shut, sobbing loudly.

"Um...Lisanna?" Lucy walked over to the stall and knocked on it gently. "You know it's just me and you in here, right?"

"B-But..." Lisanna managed to speak in between her sobbing. "S-Someone m-may walk i-in and s-see..."

"Lisanna, please. Try to stop crying for a second so you can tell me exactly what happened. Maybe it's not what you think-"

"Maybe, it's exactly what I think!" Lisanna yelled, blowing into the toilet paper as if it were a tissue.

"Hey, Lisanna. Just calm down and tell me what happened, please..." Lucy leaned herself against the stall.

There were a few silent moments, not counting Lisanna's sniffling, before she finally confessed. "Me and Natsu...we went to the arcade after we had pizza yesterday..."

"Yeah. That's when I left, right?"

"Yeah. So...he said that he was hungry, even though we literally just had pizza. But, anybody who knows him knows that he has a big appetite, right?"

"Right," Lucy reached her hand under the stall to grab Lisanna's, squeezing it gently. "So what happened next?"

"Well...he was taking quite a while. So I decided to go check on him..." Lisanna began sniffling harder.

"Shh...it's okay, Liz. You don't have to tell me right now if you don't want to, if it is that bad..." Lucy really wanted to know what happened so she could talk to Natsu about it, but she didn't want to make things any worse for her best friend.

"No, Lucy...i'll tell you. I'm opening the door..."

Lucy stepped back as Lisanna walked out; she had stopped crying, but her face was still stained red. "Lucy...I saw him..."

Noticing her eyes were tearing up again, Lucy hugged Lisanna close. "Shhh...Lisanna, you saw him what?"

When Lisanna had lifted her head up to face Lucy, tears ran down her cheeks. "He was... _kissing_ her, Lucy!"

"What!?" Lucy's eyes where wide. "Kissing who?"

"Kissing... _her!_ That filthy man-napper!"

Lucy backed away. "Wait...you mean-"

"Ultear, Lucy!" Lisanna yelled, sobbing loudly now. "Ultear kissed Natsu! And the worst part is...he didn't pull away!"

Lucy stood there for a bit, trying to process everything. "So, wait...Ultear kissed Natsu? And Natsu didn't do anything about it?"

"Oh, he did _something_ about it alright!" Lisanna went over to the sink to wash her face off. "He stood there, obviously enjoying it!"

Lucy stared at Lisanna as she continued washing her face. She then looked at her watch and froze. "Lisanna...we need to get to class. It starts in two minutes."

Her friend nodded, and the two walked out of the bathroom. Lucy walked her friend to her class and stopped her before she had a chance to walk in. "Are you sure you're gonna be ok today?"

Lisanna just shrugged. "I don't have a choice, do I? Besides, it's not like I have any classes with him, so I should be fine." Without waiting for Lucy to respond, she walked into class.

That's when the bell rung, and Lucy panicked. There was no doubt that Mrs. Scarlet was going to get on her ass for being late.

* * *

When she had gotten to class, the door was closed, and Lucy knocked on it, panting and her sides hurting from walking so fast. She already knew she was in trouble. _'Great, that's all I need. Trying to figure out Lisanna's problem while my Algebra teacher yells at me...'_

When Mrs. Scarlet opened the door, she did not look the slightest bit happy, which was expected. "Lucy, glad you will join us. Suppose you could tell the class why you were late?"

At this point, Lucy was so frustrated she didn't care what she had to do. "Gladly, ma'am," she stated as she walked in and set her books down, making her way to the front of the class. She spoke as if she didn't have a care in the world. "My best friend had something horrible happen to her, and I had to be there to comfort her or else she wasn't going to be able to make it through the day. Friends are much more important to me than being to class on time." The class looked surprised, as if this was the last thing they expected to happen today. She turned to her teacher, who was staring at her blankly. "May I sit down now?"

For a while, Mrs. Scarlet still had that blank look on her face, and Lucy expected a sharp remark. However, her teacher had actually softened her gaze, and pointed to Lucy's desk. "Thank you, Lucy. You may sit. But see me after class."

Shocked, all Lucy could do was walk over to her desk and sit down. It was very unlike that grouchy teacher to be understanding. Or it could just be that Lucy actually had a valid reason for being late for once. But the rest of class, she couldn't even pay attention. All she could think about was how she was going to fix the problem between Natsu and Lisanna. One thing was for sure, she knew she had to find Natsu, and hear his side of the story...

* * *

Once the bell rang, Lucy made her way to Mrs. Scarlet's desk. "You wanted to see me?"

Her teacher looked up at her from the chair she sat in behind her desk and crossed her arms. "What exactly was the problem with your friend? It must have been pretty bad if it made you late for class."

Lucy fiddled her hair with her finger nervously. "It's not as bad as you would think...just that, my friend was upset because, well...it's just teenager stuff, honestly ma'am."

Mrs. Scarlet just blinked at her through her red hair as if Lucy had just grown as much hair as her. "I was a teenager once."

Lucy sighed. She did not feel like talking to her teacher about her friend's problems. It wasn't any of her business. "My friend saw her boyfriend get kissed by another girl. And i'm trying to figure out how i'm going to find her boyfriend so I can hear his side of the story."

Her teacher sighed, closing her eyes in a frustrated manner. "Well, Lucy. That's not your job. If your friend really wants to work things out, then she should talk to him."

"But ma'am...she's too upset to talk to him."

"Then wait, and she'll come around."

Lucy sighed. Why was Mrs. Scarlet trying to help her anyways? "But I want to help. I wanna hear her boyfriend's side of the story. It'll take forever for them to make up if I don't do something about it."

Mrs. Scarlet just shrugged, fiddling with her long ruler. "Very well, whatever you think is best Lucy. You can go now; but don't be late to my class again."

For once, even if she still had a harsh tone, Lucy felt like this teacher was being at least reasonable. "I won't. Thank you, ma'am." She started to walk out of the classroom when she turned around again. "Have a good rest of the day."

"You as well, Lucy." Her teacher replied without looking up as she began to grade papers.

* * *

Now, Lucy didn't really care if she was late to class; at least not her second period. Her and Lisanna both were in it together, and had Mrs. Strauss for English. In fact, she was Lisanna's older sister. She had gotten her teaching degree when Lisanna and Lucy were in elementary school, and had been teaching at this high school since. Besides being a little strict about the way she wrote, Lucy thought Mrs. Strauss was the sweetest person ever, next to Lisanna. It must have been a family trait to be the nicest people in the world. From growing up going to Lisanna's house all the time, she had known her English teacher all her life. Outside of school, Lucy would refer to her as Mirajane, which was her first name; but she had always stressed on Lucy to call her different in school. She definitely made sure that Lucy and Lisanna were both treated the same as the other students, as she was also a fair person.

Lucy saw herself getting into Mira's class, since she wasn't related to her, even if she was like family. But with Lisanna being taught by her sister, she figured the school would be afraid of her getting favored. Mira must have convinced the school that her younger sister would be treated the same as the other students. Honestly, with her sweet, pleading words, it was so hard to say no to the woman.

So Lucy knew it wouldn't matter too much if she were late to her next class. So, her mind was set on finding Natsu. She had to talk to him, and hear his side of the story. She figured that once she found out what the troubled boy had to say, she could give the message to Lisanna, and the two would make up and be happy again. That's all Lucy wanted, was to have her two friends happy so she could be happy.

"Damnit! I can't find him!" Lucy huffed. "It would help if I knew where his next class was..." She paused. "That's it!"

She made her way to the office and was immediately faced with one of the helpers, which Lucy happened to recognize as one of her close friends, because they had Book Club together later in the day. "Levy?"

The blue-haired girl smiled brightly. "Lucy! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be heading to class?"

Lucy leaned herself over the front desk. "Sorry Levy, but I need your help. I need to find out where Natsu's class is for this period! It's important and I really need to talk to him!"

Levy frowned at her friend's worried face, but saw that she was in a hurry and didn't ask any questions. "Right, I can help you with that Lucy. I just need to know Natsu's last name."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Um...Dragneel? Natsu Dragneel? I thought he was the only Natsu in our school."

Her friend got out some of the schedules after fiddling with one of the droors under the desk for a second. "Nope. We've got quite a bit of students with the name Natsu. There's Natsu Anderwood, oh and there's the Natsu Dragneel guy, and...Natsu _Boner!?_ " Her eyes widened and she threw that one schedule on the ground.

Lucy was getting frustrated. "Oh my fucking irene, Levy! There are tons of kids in this school with that last name! Focus on the Dragneel guy, please!"

"Ok, ok, I apologize..." Levy placed her glasses to her face and searched Natsu's schedule. She broke into one of her finest grins. "You're in luck! He has Gym! Which is right across from here!"

"Great!" Lucy immediately dashed out of the office. "I appreciate it, Levy! See you in Book Club later!"

Levy watched her friend go before picking up the schedule she had thrown off the ground. "Boner...wonder if that kid needs counseling..."

* * *

Once Lucy had gotten into the gym, she didn't see Natsu anywhere. All she saw were some of the popular boys working out. Gray Fullbuster, who was known to flirt with Mrs. Lockser all the time, was jogging back and forth from each side of the gym. Which, Lucy couldn't blame him. Lisanna's first period teacher _was_ beautiful. Then there was Elfman Strauss, which was Lisanna's brother. He was a senior, and even though he was rough, he still had that Strauss family sweetness inside him, for he was always nice to Lucy when she came over. He was doing push ups and sit ups. Lucy never saw him on the bus with them in the mornings because he drove to school, saying a real man drives himself. Then there was Loke, who flirted with all the girls in school, even Lucy. He was pushing himself up and down on a pull-up bar. The last man she saw was Zeref Dragneel, who was Natsu's older brother; also a senior. He was stretching.

But as she searched more around the gym, she still saw no sign of Natsu. Lucy started to get the idea that maybe he had the same idea as her, either going to talk to Lisanna or to her, hoping that she would talk to his girlfriend for him.

"Hello, Mrs. Heartfilia. Can I help you with something?"

Lucy turned around to face Mr. Fernandez; the Gym teacher. He was staring down at her with a concerned look.

"Oh, yes. I'm so sorry...i'm looking for Natsu Dragneel. I really need to speak with him."

Almost immediately, he pointed a finger towards the bleachers on the far side of the Gym; and on the top right corner of them, was Natsu. To Lucy's surprise, he was talking to Ultear, and did not look happy.

Lucy turned back and nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"You are going to be late for class," Mr. Fernandez crossed his arms. "Unless it's really important, you should wait until later to talk to him. If it is important, then I will gladly write you a note. So which is it?"

Lucy sighed. "You know I wouldn't miss class if I didn't have to, sir. But this is really important."

The tall, tattoo-faced man just nodded. "Very well, come to my office when you are done. I'll have a note ready for you."

"Thank you so much!" Lucy watched him go to the other side of the Gym before turning towards the bleachers. She watched Natsu's facial expressions while he was talking to Ultear; he looked pretty serious. Lucy didn't want to just interrupt him. Perhaps she could hear his side of the story by listening in on them. So, she made her way directly beneath them under the bleachers where she could hear.

"...you do?" Natsu's emotionless voice echoed through the bleachers.

"Of course I do, Natsu!" Ultear just sounded as her usual self: that needy girl who thought she could get her hands on any man she thought she deserved. She was one of the stuck up, popular girls. When she saw a man she wanted, she went after him. Unlike most girls who backed off if the guy they liked had a girlfriend, she was one who didn't care, and tried to snatch him up anyways. Lisanna was right; she was a filthy man-napper. And it sounded like Lucy was gonna end up pounding _her_ face in for causing all this, not Natsu's.

"Oh, I get it," Natsu continued to sound outraged. "So just because you like me, it gives you a right to come up to me in the arcade and suck on my pizza-flavored lips right in front of my girlfriend?"

Ultear scoffed. "I didn't _suck_ on your lips, Natsu. I simply kissed them. And I wouldn't describe your lips as pizza-flavored. More like soft, gentle, warming..."

"Well, since you told me how you feel about _my_ lips, i'll tell you how I feel about _yours._ I think you wear too much fucking lipstick. It was so sticky I couldn't pull the hell away! Oh and why i'm at it, you told me you like me, right? Well, let me tell you how I feel about you. I think you need to go screw up some other guy's life. I hate you for what you did!"

"Now Natsu, hate is a strong word..."

"I don't give a shit. Actually, I don't give two shits! Or three shits, or four shits or...a sack of shits! Look, the point is, I know you kissed me in front of my girlfriend to cause problems and make her be done with me. And guess what? Congrats! It worked! She's fucking done with me!" Natsu stood up, tears in his eyes. "I love her, Ultear! Now she hates me! How could you!? HOW!?"

Lucy shook at Natsu's threatening tone. He would never hit a woman, but his tone still was frightening. If you really knew Natsu, you knew not to get on his bad side. She ran towards the front of the bleachers and screamed his name before anything else could happen. "NATSU!"

Natsu's expression changed to one of surprise as he turned to Lucy and raised his eyes. Ultear looked down at Lucy too, raising an eyebrow. Lucy looked behind her, and saw what she had expected. With all the yelling, all eyes in the Gym were turned to them. On their luck, they were saved by the bell, as the bell rang and Mr. Fernandez appeared from his office. "Alright! Let's begin with our stretches!" He walked over to where the three troubled teens were standing. "Ultear, you need to head to class. Your time with Natsu here is done; this student needs to speak with him now." He turned to Lucy.

Ultear shifted her gaze to the determined blonde woman, and then back to Mr. Fernandez. "Of course, sir. My bad."

The woman who had basically ruined Natsu's life picked up her backpack and made her way down the bleachers, taking her note from the Gym teacher and heading to class.

Mr. Fernandez looked at Natsu and then at Lucy. "Make it quick," he stated before turning back to his class.

Confused, Natsu made his way down the bleachers. When he stood in front of Lucy, he shook his head. "Why are you here anyway? Don't you hate me? You know, for what I did to Lisanna?"

Lucy crossed her arms. "You mean what _Ultear_ did to Lisanna."

He blinked. "Huh?"

"I heard everything, Natsu. So stop blaming yourself. But we really need to talk about this."

Natsu looked around at the Gym class before turning back to Lucy and nodding. "Okay, but let's talk outside. It's gonna get loud in here."

* * *

 **Wow, chapter 2 already? I didn't expect to be done this quickly. But you know what else I didn't expect? So many follows and favs within a day!**

 **Thanks for the support, you guys! If you have any questions just ask me! I'll definitely keep this story going! How does...a chapter every day or two sound?**


	3. Failed Plan

Once the two made it out into the quiet hallway, Lucy turned to Natsu. "Now that you told off Ultear, you need to talk to Lisanna."

Natsu scratched his head. "Right, talk to Lisanna. I don't think that's happening, Luce. She won't even look at me." He set his gaze on the ground and let his arms fall to his sides. "Even if I did attempt to talk to her, she would just run away. I lost her..."

"No, you didn't!" She gripped her hands on his shoulders. "If you really love her like you say you do, don't give up!"

Natsu looked at her with weary eyes. "Okay, Luce. So what do you want me to do? Tie her up to a chair and demand her to listen to me?"

Lucy groaned and released his shoulders. "No, idiot. I want you to get a word in with her. And now that I know what happened, we can both talk to her. If i'm with you, surely she'll listen."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "And if she doesn't?"

"Then you don't stop trying until she does," Lucy pointed towards the front doors of the school. "After school, i'm going to take Lisanna to the benches we always sit at. You can meet us there and talk to her then."

He looked over to the direction she was pointing, sighing as if he didn't want to try to force Lisanna into listening to him. "Ok, i'll attempt it. I'm just hoping she'll listen to me."

"I'm sure she will," Lucy began to walk back towards the Gym. "You need to get to class. Remember, you meet us outside after school today."

Natsu opened the door for Lucy, smiling a little bit for once in that entire day. "So that means no getting in trouble with that asshole teacher of mine?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what that means," Lucy looked behind her when Natsu followed in, smirking. "And as I recall, you've never opened the door for me before."

"And as _I_ recall," Natsu chuckled, "The other chances I had to do that, Lisanna has always been with us to get jealous."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh with him. It was true; even though Lisanna was very sweet she was also the jealous type. Even when he would do something nice for Lucy, like buying her an ice cream when she had forgotten her money a few months ago when the three of them had went out together, she could tell her best friend was a little jealous. Natsu pointed it out and told Lisanna he'd buy her two ice creams to show he loved her. Lisanna had laughed and said it would be ridiculous if she was actually jealous of her best friend. But they could both tell she was.

"Yeah, gotta agree with that one," Lucy sighed. "Alright, remember what we talked about. Don't forget it."

"Wouldn't miss a chance to get Lisanna back for the world," Natsu began to make his way towards the other stretching men, but turned around and gave Lucy a warming smile. "Thanks, Luce. For going out of your way to make us happy again."

Lucy winked at him. "Of course, it gives me an excuse to miss class."

He rolled his eyes. "Let me get that note for ya, so I can miss some class."

Lucy laughed and watched him go off. How could this day have been so much better? Was that it? Lucy takes Lisanna to the bench after school, Natsu tells her what happened, and then they were back to normal? She was so happy she was able to find Natsu and talk to him.

In a flash, Natsu was back in front of her, handing her the note. "Go to class now. See ya later."

She took it from him and waved goodbye as she exited the Gym. She couldn't wait until the school day ended and the trio to be back like they used to be again.

* * *

Once Mirajane opened the door to see Lucy, she smiled brightly and spoke in her sweet voice. "Hello there Lucy! Glad you could be here."

"Hello Mrs. Strauss," Lucy handed her the note. "I had to...fix something."

"Oh..." Mira looked concerned. "Is it something I should know about? Something I can take care of?"

"Don't worry," Lucy gave her a reassuring smile. "I've got it all taken care of."

"Great! Come on in then!" Mira stepped out of the way to invite Lucy in.

She entered the classroom, ignoring the other classmates' stares, and sat in her desk next to Lisanna, who gave her a confused look. "Mind telling me where you were?"

She set her backpack down on her desk. "Just the bathroom."

"Well," Lisanna shook her head. "That's kind of hard to believe. You were gone for twenty minutes! Why aren't you being honest with me?"

Lucy bit her lip. The bathroom was a stupid lie. "Um...i'm...on my period! Yes, my period!"

Lisanna sighed. "I told you the truth about today, so when you're ready to tell _me_ the truth, i'm right here." She began to open her binder and get out some paper for the writing assignment they had today.

"Fine, Lisanna! I was in the bathroom, but i'm not on my period. I was thinking about your surprise." Lucy couldn't tell Lisanna that she had been talking to Natsu, or she would've gotten fired up.

Her friend looked over at her. "Surprise?"

"Yeah!" Lucy grabbed Lisanna's hands with her's. "I thought since you have been through a lot today, I would give you something to cheer you up!"

Lisanna blinked. "Oh...what would that be then?"

"That's why it's a surprise! I can't tell you!"

Her friend just stared at her sister as she walked to the front of the class and clapped her hands together, beginning to tell the class what their assignment would be for today. "This "surprise" you have for me better be worth the wait," she murmured to her friend.

* * *

Since Lucy's courage had built up after talking to Natsu, the day seemed to be going by quick. Lunch time was already over, which she had with Lisanna, Levy and an acquaintance she knew named Evergreen, and now she was walking from the lunchroom with Levy to Book Club.

"I feel really bad for that Boner kid..." Levy couldn't seem to get that last name out of her head since earlier.

"Still can't forget about that?" Lucy rolled her eyes. "Levy, i'm sure he's fine."

"I know, but he must wish he had a beautiful last name like mine, or yours."

"Heartfilia...McGarden..." Lucy giggled. "We were just the lucky ones!"

"Totally," Levy opened the door to the library, her and Lucy sitting at one of the middle tables.

"Welcome ladies!" Mrs. Vermilion, who was the librarian, waved to the two girls as she poked her head out of her office.

"Hello Mavis!" The two teens said back to her. Even though the students referred to her as Mrs. Vermilion, Mavis considered her book club as family. So, she aloud them to call her by her first name.

"We will start when the others arrive, as always!" Mavis called, turning back into her office.

"So," Levy whispered, leaning towards Lucy with a smirk. "You seem excited today. Care to tell?"

Lucy bit her lip, looking away. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Yep. So what is it? Got a date with a guy finally?"

"No way," Lucy shook her head. "I'll tell you. But you have to promise that this is kept between me and you. Can't have Lisanna finding out before the end of the day."

Levy crossed her fingers across her chest. "You have my word!"

So Lucy explained all the events of what had happened so far that day, keeping her friend quite entertained. When she had finally finished, Levy clapped her hands repeatedly.

"Aw! Natsu is a sweet guy! He really loves Lisanna!" She sighed and rested her head on her hand. "I wish a guy loved me that much..."

"You mean Mr. Redfox?" Lucy had to put in. It was a running joke that Levy had a crush on that teacher because she was the only one who didn't think he was a huge asshole.

Levy stood up and blushed. "What the hell Lucy!? He's like, way older than me!"

"I know," She opened up her backpack to get her book out. "It's just fun to get you going."

The bell rang and the whole club was there now. Mavis walked to the front and placed her red marker on the white board. "Ok, I have decided to give each of you an assignment!"

All the students groaned. Sure, they joined Book Club because they enjoyed to read, not do assignments.

"Oh come on now, guys! It'll be fun! I haven't even explained what your assignment is yet!"

"But Mavis!" One student called, "I have a science project to work on! I can't have another assignment on top of that!"

"And i'm terrible at assignments!" Another one called.

"Quit complaining," Lucy muttered. She didn't feel like doing anything other than reading, but Mavis wasn't going to change her mind.

"Don't worry, it won't be due until the end of the year!" Mavis reassurred. "Now, I want each of you to write about someone who has changed the way you look at life!"

Everyone blinked. Levy raised her hand. "Um, Mavis? What if nobody has changed the way we look at life?"

"Levy, i'm sure there are tons of people you have met who have changed the way you look at the world," Mavis turned to write on the board. "Sometimes, it takes some time to realize it."

Mavis drew a picture of Mr. Makarov on the board, even if it didn't look that good. He was the school principal. She turned around and stepped out of the way for everyone to see. "Our school principal has changed the way I look at life because he showed me that being a good leader makes a great impact on the ones you lead. He leads the school with a heart full of happiness. And because his heart is full of happiness, the students are happy. If I lead you guys with a hard-working mind and a sense of humor, it will help you all be more motivated! So, see what I mean?"

* * *

"Yeah, I totally see what she meant." Levy's eyes were wide with shock. "She talked for at least an hour!"

"I know, right?" Lucy placed her hand against her forehead. "And now I have a headache..."

"So," Levy stopped at her locker to get her science textbook, since that was her last class of the day. "Who are you gonna write about?"

"You mean who changed the way I look at life?" Lucy asked as if that was a stupid question. "Uh, my dad? For making life worse for me because he's always depressed and can't move on from mom?"

"You don't ever move on from someone you love, Lucy." Levy dropped her journal. "Hey, can you pick that up and hold it for me?"

"Sure," She reached down and picked it up, holding it in her hand. "I know that, Levy. I haven't moved on from mom but...at least i'm not being sad all the time and making dad's life miserable!"

Levy shut her locker, taking her journal. "He must have really loved her..."

Lucy was about to snap, saying that she loved her mother too, but she decided against that idea. "I know..."

"Well, i'll see you later Lucy. You can let me know how things went with Natsu and Lisanna!" The two made it to the science hallway that was just around the corner from Levy's locker, where she had to turn to.

"Bye, Levy!" Lucy called before heading towards her last class, ready for what was to come afterwards...

* * *

"So, my surprise is here?"

Lucy and Lisanna were waiting outside on their bench. For some reason, Lucy was feeling nervous. What if things went completely downhill? What if Lisanna got mad at her for not telling her that she was setting her up to talk to Natsu?

But she decided not to worry too much; Lisanna was a very understanding person. And her and Lucy had been best friends their whole lives. Why would she be mad if all her friend was trying to do was help?

"Yes, just wait. It should be here any minute." Lucy tried to sound confident and excited, when really she was filled with anticipation and nervousness.

They sat there for a bit longer, until Natsu had walked out of the school. Lisanna noticed and gasped, grabbing Lucy's arm. "We need to go!"

"Wait, Lisanna!" Lucy stopped her by grabbing her arm and sitting her back down.

"But, Lucy! He's right there!"

Lucy looked into Lisanna's eyes, gaze serious. "I know."

Her friend just sat there, eyes wide in shock.

Natsu walked up to the two girls and took a deep breath. "Hey Luce," He hesitated before turning to Lisanna. "Hey Lisa-"

"What do you want!?" Lisanna interuppted, standing up to face him.

"Lisanna," Lucy stood up. "He has something he needs to tell you."

"I don't want to hear anything from him!" She pointed to Natsu's face, having him step backwards.

"Lisanna, please!" Natsu stared at her, the happiness from earlier today fading away from his eyes.

"Please, what!?" She started to walk away. "Please listen to you say that you didn't mean to kiss another girl in front of your girlfriend!? Leave me alone!"

"Wait!" Lucy ran in front of her. "Lisanna, please! He has a good reason!"

Lisanna shook her head. "There is no good reason, Lucy! And if you are gonna take his side, then leave me alone as well!" She shoved past Lucy and ran across the street towards the bus line.

Lucy couldn't believe what she had just heard. Did she just lose her friendship with Lisanna? Even if she was just trying to make things better and help? Why wouldn't she hear Natsu out? Was she that hurt that she didn't even wanna talk to him? And Lisanna had been her best friend for life. How could she just yell at her like that?

She was definitely hurt.

"Liz..." Tears began to fill her eyes.

"Luce," Natsu's hurt tone came from behind Lucy. "You alright?"

She turned around to face him, shaking her head. "I don't think so...i'm sorry Natsu...I tried."

He shook his head and walked up to Lucy, resting his hand on her shoulder. "No, Luce. Don't be sorry. You didn't do a thing wrong. All you were trying to do was help."

"I just feel like I made things worse. Now i'm not even sure if Lisanna will talk to me..."

The bus began to pull up, and Natsu started walking that way. "If you want, you could sit with me. That way you don't feel alone."

Lucy blinked as if he had said something so unusual. "Wait...me, you? I sit with...you?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, why not? Not like Lisanna will talk to either one of us."

"But won't that piss her off even more?"

Natsu sighed. "Honestly, it doesn't matter. It's not like she's gonna cool down for not sitting together. Honestly, Luce, there's nothing you can do from this point on."

Lucy started walking with him. "So what do we do now? Wait for her to come around?"

He nodded. "Exactly."

So for the rest of the way home, Lucy sat in the front of the bus with Natsu. She felt bad that Lisanna was sitting in the back by herself, but she didn't want to talk to either one of them at the moment. But she was her best friend, so Lisanna would calm down and talk to her again. She wasn't sure when she was going to make up with Natsu however. Maybe she would text Lisanna tonight and apologize, and explain she was just trying to help.

She looked at Natsu. "Hey, thanks for letting me sit with you."

He turned to her and smiled. Lucy was glad to see him smiling, even if he wasn't that happy at the moment. "No problem, Luce. We're friends, right?"

She matched his smile. "Of course we are."

* * *

 **So here's chapter 3! Yes, finally a nalu moment at the end. Speaking of nalu, i've had tons of people ask if this was a nalu story. Yes, it is. There you go! :)**

 **Thanks for reading! And again for all the support! Look forward to the next chapter! Things will start getting good.**


	4. A Smile Brighter Than the Starry Night

Lucy was sitting on the couch with a book in her hand, as always. Although her mind wasn't focused towards her book; it was focused towards Lisanna, her best friend who was still angry with her. Lucy wondered if she should try texting her, but she didn't want to make her even more angry.

But she pulled out her phone anyway. If she didn't text her, who knows how much longer Lisanna would be angry?

 _"Hey, Liz...just wanted to see how you were doing. I'm not sure if you're still mad at me, but I just wanted you and Natsu to be happy again. I'm sorry for screwing things up..."_

Lucy put her phone away and sighed. Why was Lisanna refusing to listen? She had always been so understanding about everything else. She was very sweet and never caused trouble. If someone made her mad, she would hear them out, and talk about it with them, at least after being alone for a while. So why was this time different?

Lucy knew why: Lisanna wasn't just angry. She was hurt. Real hurt. Her friend was hurting so much that she didn't want to listen to anyone about what Natsu had done. Even though nothing was his fault, she loved him, and the thought of him cheating on her or choosing someone over her just stabbed her in the heart.

Her phone lit up a few minutes later; Lisanna had texted back.

Lucy was relieved when she opened up the text:

 _"It's ok, Lucy. I'm not angry with you, you were only trying to help. This is all Natsu's fault."_

"She must have not seen me sitting on the bus with Natsu..." Lucy murmured, laying back on the couch. This was probably the perfect time to tell Lisanna what had really happened with him.

 _"Hey, can I call you?"_

A few seconds later, her phone buzzed in her hands, and Lucy answered. "Hey Liz."

"Hey Lucy..." Lisanna sighed through the other end, not sounding any happier. Lucy missed answering to her friend's cheerful voice.

"Listen, Lisanna. I know the last thing you wanna talk about right now is Natsu. And I know he hurt your feelings, but-"

"He hurt my _heart,_ Lucy," Lisanna's voice cracked through the phone.

"But it wasn't his fault!" Lucy burst out. "Ultear kissed him! And he got onto her for that today!"

There was silence for a while, and Lucy bit her lip nervousely. She hoped she hadn't made Lisanna angry.

A sigh was heard through the other end. "Is that what he told you?"

"Yes? Well, I saw actually-"

"It's a lie, Lucy!" Her friend hissed, outraged. "He is making up stuff so you will forgive him! I saw what happened! He didn't have a care in the world if Ultear kissed him! In front of me! Him and Ultear must have been planning that meeting so I would forgive him, so he could have me on the side!"

Lucy shook her head. She couldn't believe Lisanna still didn't believe Natsu. If she wouldn't even believe what her best friend had to say, how on earth was she ever going to believe what happened wasn't Natsu's fault? She had to do something, but she wasn't sure what. How could she calm Lisanna down enough to at least talk to her boyfriend?

Then, she had an idea.

"Lisanna, i've got an idea," Lucy spoke more calmly. "Tomorrow, me and you will go talk to Ultear."

On the other end, Lisanna's eyes were wide open with shock. How could she suggest talking to that stuck up snob? "And what good would that do, Lucy?"

"Because, Ultear is the one that kissed him in the first place and caused everything. You can hear from her that it was all her fault and Natsu had no control over it."

Lisanna took a deep breath, shaking her head. "I don't want to talk to her, Lucy. She'll probably just lie anyway."

"But-"

"No!" Lisanna was beginning to sound angry again. "Lucy, what part of I don't want to talk to Natsu do you not understand!?"

Now, Lucy was over the edge. Her friend wasn't ever going to get anything solved if she let her heartbreak get in the way. So she decided to end the conversation. "Ok, Liz. Just, promise me you'll think about things, ok?"

"Fine," was all Lucy heard before her friend hung up.

She paced around the room. How could Lisanna think that Natsu had wanted to hurt her? They had been in quite a long relationship, for teenagers, and she loved him. How could she not...trust him? Even Lucy was willing to trust the boy.

Talking to Ultear would have been an excellent thing to do. Just because Ultear could be the one to confess that she kissed Natsu in front of Lisanna on purpose, and Lisanna would be able to trust that her boyfriend had no part or intend on hurting her.

"She loves him," Lucy breathed, heading upstairs for a relaxing soak to relieve the stress that was going on. "Surely she'll come around. She won't be able to stay away from him for long."

* * *

Lucy opened her eyes as she lay on her bed; covered in a towel. _'Shit...did I fall asleep after soaking? What time is it?'_

She looked up at the heart-shaped clock ticking on her wall, and sighed in relief. It was only 6:22. Her dad wouldn't be home for another while. Not that she didn't want her dad home, she just wanted to be waiting at that same spot, having tea ready for him, and telling him she loved him. Though it didn't seem to change anything about his behavior, it was part of Lucy's routine.

Looking out the window, she saw the sun was setting. A perfect thought approached her head at that moment: great weather for a walk.

So, once she was out of her towel, hair brushed and into her clothes, she headed down the stairs and out of the house. She had her watch with her so she could watch the time and get back before her father got home. Not like she wouldn't anyway. She was just taking a round or two around the neighborhood.

Lucy perked her head upwards and stared at the blue sky that was burning orange on one side because of the setting sun and the other dark blue from the arriving night. The breeze felt absolutely wonderful. She loved doing this. It seemed to be the only thing that truly calmed her.

After a while of walking, Lucy's head shot up when she heard a voice. "Luce?"

"Natsu?" She looked behind her, blinking in confusion. "What are you doing out here?"

Her approaching friend was ruffling his hair nervously with his hand, staring at the ground. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya. Just was staring out the window and saw you. Wanted to know if you were ok."

Lucy shook her head. "N-No, you didn't scare me. Just surprised me." She walked up closer to him, and gazed at his house. "Where's Igneel and Zeref? Do they know you went out of the house?"

He looked at her. "Actually, Zeref is in his room, as always. Dad was making dinner and I was watching out the window; he told me I should go for a walk." He laughed awkwardly, forcing a smile.

Lucy could easily tell that he was feeling many mixed emotions: Embarrassment, awkwardness, tension, and a tad bit of depression.

She gave him a sympathetic look. "Do they know about what happened between you and Lisanna?"

Natsu placed his hands in his pockets, admitting defeat. "Uh-huh. Zeref could already tell; he told dad." He kicked a rock across the sidewalk onto the road. "Have you talked to Lisanna at all since after school?"

"Yeah..." Lucy replied uneasily, looking away from him and scratching her head. "I tried to convince her more, but she _did_ promise she would think about it."

He sighed, as if that weren't enough. "I told ya, Luce. She needs time."

"But I can't stand to see the two of you fighting!"

Natsu shrugged. "I can't either. Just let her calm down on her own, ok?"

Lucy looked down at the lines lining the sidewalk horizontally. "Fine," was all she muttered.

"So...guess I should listen to my dad," Natsu gave her a short and sweet smile. "Wanna walk together?"

Lucy raised her head to meet his eyes, and was able to match his smile once again. "Sure."

* * *

The two had made at least two rounds around the neighborhood before heading back to Lucy's house. They had kept away from the Lisanna situation and talked about other things. Natsu couldn't keep his mouth shut about how annoying Gray is, always either talking about Mrs. Lockser's tits or calling him a dickhead. Lucy argued that he wasn't all that bad. Natsu just decided that Gray hated only _him_ for some reason. But that wasn't all he talked about; he brought up how he had managed to go farther than his brother on the pace test in gym class. Lucy laughed when Natsu said he was just lazy and that he could go farther than that.

Lucy talked about her dad, and that he might just slowly be getting better. She went into detail about her nightly routine, which Natsu thought was sweet. They had found themselves talking about Mavis's big project she was having the Book Club do.

"So," Natsu gave her a wink. "Who changed the way _you_ look at life, Luce?"

She chuckled. "I don't know, who do _you_ think?"

"Hmm..." He playfully put a finger to his chin. "How about that algebra teacher of yours?"

She crossed her arms. "And what did _she_ do?"

He smirked. "Taught you that some people in life can be a bunch of bitches."

"Like Mr. Redfox?"

"Exactly, like Mr. Redfox."

They both laughed for the hundreth time that night. Natsu then looked up at the sky, which was painted with shining stars all around it. "Beautiful night, huh?"

Lucy sighed, looking in his direction and taking in another whiff of the breeze. "Definitely."

"Glad you're here to take it in with me."

She looked at him, and found herself a smile brighter than any smile she had seen since her mother's. "Really?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I wanna share it with a good friend?"

Lucy suddenly felt really happy. Like, _really_ happy. Her heart felt like it was bursting with joy. It was as if the Lisanna situation never happened. "Well, why don't we do this more often then?"

He kept his smile. "Sounds good!"

They talked a bit more before bringing themselves to Lucy's front door. She turned to him. "You gonna be ok by yourself?"

Natsu shook his head at her, raising a fist. "Oh, what? Some creepy pervert gonna try to pick me up because I have a nice body? Not gonna happen."

"Shut up!" Lucy snorted, putting his hand down.

Her friend let out one of his amazing laughs again. His laugh was definitely amazing. Lucy didn't know why, but it was just so warming. When Natsu was happy, he did a lot of cute things, like smile. She didn't want this night to end, but she knew it had too.

"Well," She looked down at her watch. "My dad will be home soon, so i'd better head in."

"Alright, see ya tomorrow Luce," Natsu walked off her porch, giving her a wave with that amazing smile once again spreading on his face. Lucy swore that smile was brighter than any of the stars that lit the night tonight.

* * *

Once her dad had gotten home, Lucy followed her routine, giving him some tea and saying she loved him. She was about to head up to her room when a thought occurred to her.

"Hey, dad?"

"Yes, Lucy?" He didn't take his eyes off his paper he was reading.

"So...you remember your high school years, right?"

"Couldn't forget."

"Well, did your friends ever have problems with their relationships?"

"Nope."

Lucy looked away from him so he wouldn't catch a glimpse of her rolling her eyes. _'Well that was helpful...'_

"Why, Lisanna and that pink guy having problems?"

She raised her eyebrows. He actually cared? "Yeah?" And when she turned to him, he was looking at her, with his own eyes. "H-How did you know?"

"They're the only friends of yours that are in a relationship," His eyes settled back on his paper, taking a sip of his tea. "I'm sure it'll work out."

"Thanks..." Lucy stared into her book, trying to hide her surprised expression. Even if his voice had been blank as well as his help, he looked at her. That had been one of the only times in a long time that he actually was looking at her while talking to her. His mind not looking down at the counter and his paper, thinking about her mother and the stress of his work hours, but at her. Her father was looking at _her,_ really paying attention to her.

Maybe things were improving after all. Slowly, but improving.

* * *

 **So here's chapter 4! I know it was a bit short, sorry about that. I just thought it was a good place to stop.**

 **Again, thanks for the support! It really motivates me to write more of this and make it really good, so keep it up!**


	5. A Special Dinner

Even if Lucy's night had turned out not so bad, the morning was still rough. She had sat with Lisanna on the bus because, well, she was her best friend and they got on together. Natsu had got on, and after receiving a cold look from Lisanna he got the hint and sat at the front again. Lucy hoped he understood.

Now she was at lunch, taking a bite out of her sandwhich she had made that morning. She wasn't a huge fan of school food; it was disgusting.

"So, Lucy," Levy was beside her, taking a chip from her bag, "Have you figured out who you are doing your project on?"

Lucy shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Levy. Like Mavis said, we have all year."

Her friend peeked her head down under Lucy's to look in her eyes. "You don't look so good," She turned her head behind Lucy to see Lisanna sitting on the other side of her, not saying a word and staring down at the table. "I take it things still aren't good with them two?"

"You are correct," Lucy whispered so Lisanna wouldn't hear their conversation. "Levy, I don't know what to do about them..."

"Just give them time," Levy had Natsu's idea, which had Lucy even more frustrated. To her, waiting didn't help one bit. When people had problems, they shouldn't wait an eternity to make up!

Book Club was thankfully not that stressful, as Mavis didn't bring up the project. Instead, they got free read, where they could read whatever they wanted the whole period. They had to be quiet though, which Lucy didn't mind. She needed a quiet scenery to read in.

And when the school day ended, her and Lisanna were sitting on their bench waiting for the bus. Natsu walked out, but had obviously decided to act like they weren't there. Probably a smart idea. He sat in the front and Lisanna and Lucy sat in the back.

When the two girls had gotten off the bus, Lucy put her arm around her best friend. "So, how has today been for you?"

Lisanna sighed, shrugging. "Okay, I guess."

All Lucy could do was comfort her a bit without mentioning Natsu and say goodbye to her.

* * *

Now, she was on the couch, reading a book. That had been all she was doing, and even though she loved to read, it got rather lonely. She missed hanging out with Lisanna and Natsu, and hoped they would make up soon.

 _'Just give them time'_ Lucy thought to herself, deciding to give in on Natsu and Levy's advice.

So what was she to do until her dad had gotten home? She already finished her homework. She could've gone for another walk, but she wasn't really feeling up to it. She walked towards the kitchen and opened the fridge, pouring herself a glass of tea to drink. Then, as Lucy's gaze switched over to the stove, she had an idea: she would make a nice dinner for her father!

Why hadn't she thought of this before? It was an excellent idea, and it could probably improve things a whole lot more on her father's behavior. Lucy was actually good at cooking. On the weekends, she loved making pancakes and bacon, or omelets and grits for breakfast. And for dinner she liked to cook grilled cheese, hot dogs, and a lot of other things. Although she wasn't a chef, for her age, she could cook quite a bit. Her mother used to do the cooking, but since she died, Lucy's father started teaching her how to cook meals.

Lucy opened up the fridge again. What could she make her father tonight? There were many options, but she didn't want to just make something little, no. She wanted to prepare a huge, nice dinner just for her and her father. It was also a Friday night, which meant there was no school or work for either one of them the next day. Saturday was the only day her father had gotten off, so they made the most of that day every week. She figured the two of them could start off their nice little weekend with a nice dinner.

As her gaze searched the fridge, her eyes popped open wide when they landed on a pile of frozen stakes. _'Perfect'_ she thought. The two of them could have steaks. That was her father's favorite.

So, Lucy got right to cooking. She opened up the steaks, turned on the stove at the right temperature, and dropped them onto the pan. She was so happy that she seemed to forget being upset about Natsu and Lisanna's current relationship. Once she was finished with the steaks, Lucy almost panicked when she saw the time. By now, it was 6:30. That was still an hour and a half away from when her father got home, but she still wasn't near finished. She still had to peel potatoes, and cook some corn and broccoli. There was no way she was going to finish and get everything ready on time. She wasn't that fast all by herself. So what was she to do?

Could she call Lisanna over to help? But she thought twice about that idea. Her friend was still depressed on what happened with Natsu.

 _Natsu_

That was it! Natsu seemed to be getting better about the whole situation along with Lucy, and maybe helping her cook would help take his mind off things. Surely there was nothing wrong with asking a friend over to help her cook faster, right? And Lisanna wouldn't even want to; she barely even said a word during school. So, she decided to invite Natsu to help. She had his number, since Lisanna had given it to her awhile back and always did group chats together on their phones. So when she had planted the steaks onto two separate pans, she picked up her phone, and scrolled through all her contacts until she found Natsu's number, and pressed the call button, holding the phone to her ear.

A few seconds later, his voice picked up. "Luce?"

"Hey Natsu," Lucy breathed, "You busy?"

There was silence for a moment before he replied, probably confused by Lucy's sudden call. "Well, i'm just now finishing some homework, since I decided to wait to do it," he added with a chuckle. "But, um...why? You need something?"

"Well, yeah actually," She took a breath before explaining her plan.

* * *

By around 7:00, Natsu had arrived, and hurried into the kitchen. "Alright, so what do you want me to do first?"

Lucy quickly ran over to the potato peeler she had set out on the counter before he arrived, handed it to him, and motioned him to the sink where two potatoes lay. "I need you to peel these two potatoes for me," she explained quickly. "And while you work on that, i'll start cooking the corn and broccoli."

Natsu blinked at her for a minute, staring down at the peeler, then the potatoes, and back again. "So, peel the skin off the potatoes with this thing?"

"Yes," Lucy blinked at him, "Think you can do that?"

"Sure," He grinned, turning towards the sink. Lucy nodded to him and began to do her work. She placed the corn in one small pan, and the broccoli in another one. It didn't take too long; she was probably just paranoid about the time. Once she sat the corn and broccoli onto the plates with the steaks, she turned to Natsu. "How's it going over there?"

"Pretty good," He replied, a hint of stress in his voice. Lucy shook her head, figuring he was doing something wrong, and walked over to him.

She found that in all that time, Natsu was still on the first potato, having a hard time getting the skin off. "Natsu, here, let me help," She reached her left hand under his, which was the hand supporting the potato, while she grabbed Natsu's right hand with her's, and grazed the blade through the skin, easily slicing each part off.

The whole time, Lucy found the position they were in quite uncomfortable. She felt her face become hot; she was practically holding him from behind. The two stood in awkward silence until they finished slicing the first potato. She looked up slowly to see his face red, and of course, he had to be staring down at her, to where they found themselves facing each other. Well that was just awkward as hell.

"U-Um..." Lucy jumped back, turning to hide her face, her voice pitched higher. "T-That was p-pretty g-good, N-Natsu." She realized she was sounding pretty ridiculous, and calmed herself. She cleared her throat and stood up straight. "Here, let me do the second one."

As she began with the second potato, Natsu was right beside her, watching her, which made her even more uncomfortable. "So, uh...you're really good at cooking?"

"Yeah," Lucy looked up at him with a smirk, "And you're not?"

He crossed his arms. "Obviously."

"Oh well, I appreciate you coming over here to help me Natsu." She let her gaze fall back onto her work.

"Honestly, I think you're overreacting, Luce. I think it's sweet what you're doing for your dad, but it's only 7:24, we still got plenty of time. What did I do? Cut part of one potato? You could've done this all yourself."

"Well, I was afraid of not being done in time, so thank you."

Her phone started lighting up from the counter and buzzing, receiving a text. "Natsu, can you see who texted me?"

"Sure thing," He picked up her phone, then brought it over to her. "Your dad."

Lucy blinked, tipping her head to the side. "Oh, that's weird. He usually doesn't text me during work. Can you read it to me?"

Natsu nodded, opening up the text. He paused.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Um, Luce..." Natsu cringed, turning away. "Your dad...isn't coming over tonight."

She dropped the potato into the sink. _'What!?'_

"He...isn't?"

Natsu shook his head, guilt washed all over his face. "He says that trouble came up at work, and he's gonna have to go out of town for the weekend," once he saw Lucy staring more, not saying anything, he added the last part quickly. "But he says he loves you and he'll see you Sunday night!"

Lucy looked back down towards the sink with a sigh, "And I...peeled this potato, and..." Her gazed fixed onto the two plates on the counter. "I made a special dinner, just for him..."

For a long time, Lucy stood there. She couldn't believe it. It wasn't her dad's fault that work kept him from coming home, but she had spent all evening preparing the perfect dinner for him, and he couldn't even come home. This happened sometimes, but it wasn't very often. She should've known better than to even attempt doing something special for him, because it never worked out.

"I'm so sorry, Natsu..." She stared up at him with guilt. "You went out of your way to come over here and help, and it was all for nothing..."

To Lucy's surprise, Natsu just gave her that same grin she absolutely adored when they walked together last night. "Well, it doesn't have to be for nothing. I haven't had dinner yet!"

Lucy raised her eyes until they hurt. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Wait, what are you saying!?"

"I'm saying i'll eat with ya, dummy!"

Lucy tried to shake the shock from her head. "But, shouldn't you be eating at home?"

"Nah, my dad won't care. As long as i've eaten."

She stared back at the plates again before smiling at him. "Alright!"

* * *

Natsu put down his empty plate and laid his head back in a groan. "Jesus, Luce! That was amazing!"

"Thanks! I thought it was pretty good too!" Lucy couldn't hold back her giggling at his reaction to her cooking. She was glad it didn't turn out so bad.

"It was, Luce! You need to teach me how to cook!" He flashed her another sweet grin. "So what were we talking about? Oh yeah, your dad likes you to cut the skin off the potatoes because he hates the skin?"

"Exactly," Lucy let out another chuckle, "Weird, right? I just did the same thing with mine so he wouldn't ask me questions!"

"Funny guy," Natsu wiped his face off, hopping down from the chair, placing his plate into the sink. "Well, guess i'd better head home, Luce. But thanks for dinner, the steak was the best!"

"No problem," Lucy walked out onto the porch with him, "Come by any time for some more!"

"You know I will!" He was about to head off, but stood there for a second, as if he were thinking of something to say.

"Um, Natsu?" Lucy tapped his shoulder.

He turned around, giving her a face full of sadness. "Think Lisanna's ever gonna come around?"

She felt a pain of guilt for him. Even though he was the one who had said to give Lisanna some time in the first place, he was obviously missing her dearly. Perhaps it would take longer than they had expected. "Like you said, Natsu. Give her time, I know she'll come around. She loves you."

Natsu sighed, making his way down the porch. "I hope so, but now it's starting to become harder and harder to believe that."

* * *

 **Hey there! I just wanted to say thanks so much for the support! You guys are truly the best! See you next chapter! :)**


	6. The Twist

Days had passed, and things still weren't going well at all in school. No matter how hard Lucy tried, Lisanna wouldn't budge.

She now sat on the couch at home, doing her homework while talking to Levy on the phone; she had her on speaker.

"So things still aren't going too well, huh?" Levy asked.

"Nope," a stressed out Lucy shook her head. "Damn algebra!"

"I meant with Lisanna and Natsu."

"I know, I know!" Lucy threw her head back against the couch, rubbing her head with her hands. "I don't know what the fuck to do anymore! No matter what I do, Lisanna still thinks Natsu is in love with Ultear and not her!"

There was a silence for a second before Levy spoke up. "Well, maybe Lisanna's still upset because you and Natsu are spending so much time together and she thinks he's in love with you and not Ultear."

"Yeah, mayb-wait, WHAT?"

On the other end, Levy cringed nervously, twirling her pencil in her hand. She really screwed up now. "Um...nothing, I was just...taking a guess! But i'm sure that's not the case-"

"Levy," Lucy interuppted, "What the hell is going on?"

Her friend hesitated for a second before admitting defeat. "Okay, okay! I didn't want to tell you but I guess I should," she took a breath, "The other day, Lisanna came up to me in the hall-"

"She came up to you? She doesn't even associate with you! At all, ever!"

"You're forgetting at lunch," Levy inquired.

Lucy just slapped herself in the forhead. She just wanted to find out what happened, also meaning to get right to the point. "Levy, what did Lisanna say to you?"

"Well," her blue-haired friend hesitated for a second, "She asked me what was going on with you and Natsu. She said she noticed that you two were spending a lot of time together..."

Lucy couldn't even begin to believe what she was hearing; did Lisanna seriously think her and Natsu had something going on? Her best friend should know that Lucy wasn't the person to just date her best friend's boyfriend behind her back like that. Didn't Lisanna know that Lucy was only trying to help? To make things better for both her and Natsu?

"I'm going to talk to her," Lucy decided, and hung up the phone before Levy had a chance to respond. She quickly slipped her phone into her pocket and charged out the door, running towards Lisanna's house.

* * *

When the panting blonde had arrived, Mrs. Strauss was outside at the mailbox, grabbing some envelopes and shutting it back.

"Mira!" Lucy called, waving both arms in the air as she ran towards her teacher. However, since they weren't in school, Lucy could just call her Mira, which she thought was a cool opportunity.

Mirajane turned around quickly, startled, but surprised to see Lucy running out of nowhere towards her like that. "Lucy? Hey there! It's great to see you!" As always, she had that sweet smile planted on her face.

"You too," Lucy managed to gasp, "Is Lisanna home?"

"Oh, no," Mira's sweet face turned into a small frown, maybe because Lucy was making it so obvious that something was wrong. Not intentionally, of course. "She and mom just went out to the store to get some things. Weird though. Lisanna never wants to go get groceries with mom; she thinks it's boring. Today she wanted to though."

Great. Lucy had hauled her ass all the way up here for nothing. And of course Lisanna would want to get out of the house whenever she could; probably to keep her mind off of things.

"Would you like to come inside and have something to drink?" Mira's head tilted to the side with concern.

Of course, the girl had said yes, because she didn't feel like running all the way back home. Mira had poured her some tea, and the two sat themselves in the living room to talk.

"So," Mira began, taking a sip out of her cup, "May I ask you why you ran all the way up here?"

Lucy released a sigh. "You know something's wrong, don't you?"

"I noticed that Lisanna hasn't been paying much attention in class lately," Lucy noticed her hands trembling, "I wish she would tell me what's wrong. I've been so worried."

Lucy couldn't help but feel guilty. Even though she didn't have any siblings, she knew that Mira must be feeling sad, as if Lisanna didn't trust her older sister.

She decided to just tell her. Lucy told her everything that had happened. Lisanna seeing Ultear kissing Natsu at the arcade, and her believing that Natsu was cheating and didn't love her. She told her how she and Natsu did everything in their power to try to get Lisanna to understand, but she wouldn't budge.

"I see..." Mira nodded her head in understanding. "That's tough. Although i'm very grateful to you for trying to help the two of them Lucy. Thank you for that."

"So can you suggest anything? You know Lisanna even better than I do."

Mira just gave a sweet smile. "Time, just give her time. She'll come around."

 _Of course you would say that!_ Lucy huffed in frustration, but she couldn't get mad at a sweet woman like Mirajane. So instead, she gave a sweet smile back, thanking her for the advice, as if Lucy had never been given that advice before.

"Good, Lucy. Now go finish your homework. I'll talk to Lisanna more about it when she gets home." Mira gave her a wink.

"Oh, right!" Lucy hopped off of the couch, placing her cup in the sink. "I almost forgot about your homework! Thanks for the tea!" _Great, that's exactly what every_ _teacher wants to hear from their student._ Lucy then hoped that Lisanna wouldn't be upset at her for telling her older sister about the situation.

* * *

It was about 6:00 almost, and Lucy had just finished her homework. Now she sat her lazy ass on the couch watching _ Honey I Shrunk the Kids,_ since that seemed to be the only think good on, until she heard a banging on the door which caused her to literally jump off the couch. It scared her for a second. Who the hell would show up at her house at 6:00 without letting her know?

Lucy slowly made her way to the door, looking out the window first, for safety reasons obviously. Her eyes widened when she saw Natsu standing there, staring at the ground.

What the hell was he doing here?

Lucy opened the door, welcoming the boy with a wide grin. "Hello, Natsu! What's up-"

"Damn it, Luce..." Tears began to stream from Natsu's eyes, and his hands balled up into fists.

"N-Natsu...?" Lucy's mouth was wide open in surprise. "What the hell happened to you? I've never seen you cry before!"

"I tried..." Natsu looked awful. Now he looked like Lisanna the day she was in the bathroom with Lucy.

Lucy stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her so bugs didn't fly in. "Hey, Natsu...just calm down and tell me what happened."

"I...I went to the h-house..." He could barely even get the words out.

"You mean...Lisanna's house?"

He nodded, sobbing more.

Lucy was honestly shocked. She figured Natsu would be too afraid to go to her house after the incident in the bus, the way she spoke to him. But Lucy also knew how much Natsu loved the girl, and would do anything to get her back.

"Well...what happened?"

"She..." He sniffed, wiping away his tears and trying to keep himself from crying so that he could actually speak like a normal human being. "Me and her...I tried and she...she yelled at me and then I yelled at her and then..." The words were pooring out of him so fast that Lucy had to strain her ears to listen and keep up with what he was saying. He began tearing up again. "I yelled at her, Luce..." he whispered. "What kind of boyfriend am I?"

Lucy reached out and he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her. It might have been weird, but in the state he was in, he needed comfort. His brother would have just said "whatever" and his dad would have just told him life sucks and he would just have to get through it. Lucy was the only one he knew who would actually give good advice and help him. "Natsu, you are doing everything you can. You're just frustrated and sad and depressed, and your feeling all kinds of emotions right now. You took it out on Lisanna, not meaning to."

Natsu sniffed, staring down at Lucy, arms wrapped around her. He was so upset that he didn't even realize the way he was holding her. "But..."

Lucy gave him a sweet smile. "You're a really good boyfriend, Natsu. Most guys would have just given up by now. But you, I can just see how much you love Lisanna. Everything you're doing for her, everything you have done for her. Lisanna should be lucky to have you."

For a moment, Lucy thought she had said something wrong, because the boy was literally just staring at her for the longest time, even started to blush. He then flashed her that same smile from the night when they walked together, the same smile that was brighter than all the stars in the night sky. Had she really just made him feel that much better? Because damn, she should think about being a therapist then.

His voice was soft, and sweet, and charming. "Thanks, Luce. You're always making me feel better, no matter what. How come you don't have a boyfriend?"

Instantly, at that moment, Lucy's smile had changed into an expression of sadness. She began to pull away from him. "I...would have one, if I would have just..."

He grabbed her hand. "If you would have what?"

Lucy gasped. What was she about to say!? "I...I'm sorry! I have to go!"

"Luce, wait!" He tried to hold onto her, but she desperately ripped her hand out of his grasp and slammed the door shut.

Natsu stood there in shock, trying to process what just happened. He sighed, walking down the steps, away from Lucy's house. "Great, Natsu. Somehow, you fucked up again."

Inside the house, Lucy stood there, panting. She felt like a horrible person now, abandoning Natsu like that, confusing the hell out of him when she was supposed to be helping him. But she had to leave him, had to stop herself, before she completely screwed up everything.

Before she told him how she used to feel about him, before even Lisanna caught his eye.

* * *

 **Okay, I owe an apology to you all. I know that I kind of just let this story die for a little bit. School started a month ago and i've been studying for tests, and because of school now I can't upload chapters fast, although I do agree that this chapter took way too long, and i'm so sorry for that. I will try to upload new chapters as fast as I can. I also don't want to be rushed writing a chapter, otherwise there won't be a lot of detail and it won't be that good.**

 **So I will upload faster, I promise! I hope you guys really enjoy this story so far! And thank you for all your support, constructive criticism, opinions, and nice comments! You guys are truly the best! Look forward to chapter 7, which will be up eventually, just going to take some time! :)**


	7. Flashback

After she had said goodnight to her father, and told him she loved him, she went to bed. And for Lucy, normally "went to bed" would mean staying up for another hour and a half on her laptop. However, tonight it meant thinking. A hell of a lot of it too.

Lucy smashed her face into her pillow, and felt like crying. She felt so stupid. How could she have just left Natsu bewildered and confused when he literally came to her, supposing she would cheer him up and make him feel better, not confused and more upset.

But what he said to her, it just brought back memories. Which was pretty bad, considering he brought back the memories that Lucy was dying to forget.

 _"How come you don't have a boyfriend?"_ His words rang in her ears repeatedly, as if it was a horrible disease that wouldn't go away, and was going to kill her. _"How come?"_

Lucy sat up and wiped her eyes, trying to keep the tone down to a level where her dad wouldn't hear. She tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, grabbing a tissue and wiping her eyes. "You idiot..." she murmured, sniffling. "I don't want to remember, so don't remind me..

His voice continued on, harassing her. _"If you would have just what?"_

* * *

 _Flashback_

It was the day every student was either excited, terrified, or both: the first day of high school.

Lucy was especially nervous, although riding the bus with Lisanna made things way easier. She decided she should be grateful; some students didn't have a friend to walk into school with. There would definitely be a lot of new students.

But she was also excited. Her first day of being a high schooler, a good way to make a new first impression, and meet new people and make new friends, although Lisanna would always and forever be her number one friend. She picked out a nice, dark blue dress to wear with peacock-like earrings and a new white pair of sandals. She never really did her make-up, but she always had to on the first day, especially high school. Once she was finished, she stared into the mirror, admiring herself. For once, she actually thought she looked like a goddess. Hell, she wouldn't even be surprised if a guy started hitting on her, which she wouldn't mind too much. Not like she was trying to get a guy to hit on her though, definitely not.

Once she had said farewell to her father when he was off too work, she headed to the bus stop, where Lisanna was already waiting, looking nice as well. Not a dress; Lisanna wasn't the dress type. But she did have a nice, pink shirt with butterflies all over it, and shorts. She had her purple purse tucked on her shoulder, as always. "Heya, Lucy!" She waved to her best friend, "Took you long enough!"

"Yeah, yeah," Lucy rolled her eyes, setting her backpack down when she got right up to her; no way she was going to carry that heavy thing longer than she had to.

She then began to examine her friend's nice shirt; it must have been new considering she'd never seen it before. "Aren't you too old to be wearing that shirt?"

Lisanna looked offended, face red with embarrassment, staring down at it. "What do you mean!?" She sounded like she was panicking, which caused an amused Lucy laughing.

"It has butterflies all over it. It's high school, Liz. Come on."

"It's cute!"

"Whatever."

Instead of panicking more, Lisanna just smirked, examining Lucy now. "So tell me, who are you trying to impress?"

Lucy felt her face grow red, but she hid it, and flipped her hair playfully. "Why? Do I look pretty?" She giggled.

"Um, I think you over did it, honestly."

Lucy looked just like Lisanna did ten seconds ago; Lisanna had got her back, and Lucy knew she lost this one, but still had to keep it going. "I'm just trying to look older! That's all!"

Lisanna rolled her eyes, turning towards the arriving bus. "Whatever."

This was the moment where Lucy began to feel more nervous than ever. She realized that she was heading to high school. Not middle school anymore, but high school.

Lisanna, knowing Lucy all too well, grabbed her hand. "Don't worry about it, Lucy. Remember, you're not the only person right now who's nervous."

Lucy just nodded, knowing she would sound ridiculous if she was even able to spit any words out in her worrying state. They both hopped on, and sat towards the back of the bus.

Lisanna did most of the talking. Not that Lucy minded at all; she was actually grateful for it. She wasn't even sure why she was so nervous or what was bothering her so much. It was just high school. What was the worst thing that could happen?

'Saying something stupid, getting made fun of, mean teachers, detention, getting asked out!' Many bad ideas ran through Lucy's mind.

Lucy was suddenly drawn out of her panicking thoughts, as a bunch of yelling filled the bus. She pointed her gaze in the direction it was coming from, and something unique, something extraordinary caught her eyes.

Spikey, pink hair. And it belonged to one of the yelling boys that was standing up, staring down at a lean guy with dark hair. "Hey, I really need to sit down here!"

Lucy knew who the dark-haired guy was. His name was Gray Fullbuster, as she remembered from middle school because he absolutely loved starting fights. But Lucy didn't recognize the pink-haired guy at all.

"Why don't you go sit somewhere else with your pink hair dye, freak!" Gray shouted, crossing his arms.

The other boy's hands turned into shaking fists. "It is not hair dye! It's my natural color! Now let me sit down!"

"Go sit somewhere else!" Gray repeated, turning away.

"There is no where else, asshole! Now move! Or else i'll just have to make ya!"

"Go for it, dickhead!"

Lucy covered her eyes. Great way to start the first day of high school, a fight on the bus. Was this a sign that the whole day was going to be hell?

The bus came to a sudden stop. Laxus, the bus driver, turned around; his gaze was terrifying. Lucy remembered from riding the bus to middle school not to make him angry, or you were in some deep troublesome shit.

"HEY!" He screamed, face red, as if he was going to murder somebody. Everyone except the two fighting boys covered their ears, shaking. "YOU TWO BETTER SHAPE UP, OR I'LL HAVE YOU BOTH WISH YOU WALKED ALL THE WAY TO SCHOOL, YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?"

There was silence on the bus. Lucy could hardly believe that Laxus could make a loud, screaming bus go to silence, like magic.

The two boys, who were both shaking, nodded. "Yes sir." They said quietly. Gray was used to him, but was still terrified. Lucy couldn't even imagine what it was like for the new kid who's never been on this bus before. He must have actually thought the bus driver was going to choke him do death.

Lucy was afraid to speak, but she didn't want the new guy's day to be complete hell. She stood up slowly, and raised her hand. "Um..." She spoke so quietly that it was hard to believe anyone could hear her. "If...the new guy wants...he can sit here with us..."

Everyone on the bus looked surprised. But not as surprised as the new kid with the pink hair. His eyes were wide, resting on Lucy. It was as if he could hardly believe anybody was being nice to him.

Laxus seemed to calm down quite a bit. "Thank you, miss Heartfilia." His gaze shifted angrily toward the seatless man. "Go sit down."

The boy found no hesitation as he immediately made his way beside Lucy as fast as he could. The bus thankfully made it's way again.

He sat there for the longest time, not saying a single word. He was either staring down at his lap or out the window, as if Lucy didn't exist.

Lisanna tapped Lucy's shoulder. "You should talk to him," she whispered.

"But what do I say?" Lucy whispered back. "I'm not good with talking to new people!"

"That way he doesn't feel so alone," Lisanna pleaded. "Please! It makes me sad to see him like that!"

'Why do I have to do everything?' "Fine," she muttered, and turned towards the guy beside her hesitantly. "H-Hi! Are you new here?"

He shifted his gaze toward Lucy, and stared at her for what seemed like forever, making her uncomfortable. "Yeah," he finally sighed. "But I already hate it here."

'Alright, next question then' "Where did you move from?"

"Hargeon Middle," he stated blankly. "Had a lot of cool friends there." He took a deep breath. "Too bad my dad got a new job and we had to move."

This guy was pretty negative, but Lucy could understand that. He had just moved away from all is friends, to a new school, on the first day of high school. He couldn't walk in on his first day with his friends like Lucy could. She felt terrible for him.

"Well, we can be your new cool friends!" Lucy placed a wide grin on her face, motioning to Lisanna. "I'm Lucy, and this is my best friend Lisanna!"

Lisanna looked away shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously. "H-Hello..."

For a while, the boy blinked at the two, making the scene uncomfotable. He then let out a slight chuckle. "Uh-huh. And what makes you guys cool?"

Lucy started getting defensive. "We do a lot of cool things!"

"Like?"

Lucy and Lisanna switched gazes. "Lisanna...help me out!"

"Um..." Lisanna looked at the boy who was waiting patiently for an answer. "We aren't cool. We're kind of teachers' pets, always doing what we're supposed to."

Lucy felt so embarrassed she could die. Why couldn't she have just lied a little bit?

"I figured so," the boy chuckled. "You two look like the innocent type. I'm Natsu."

"Well, Natsu," Lisanna studied him. "Tell us. How is your hair naturally pink?"

"Liz! Don't ask that!" Lucy didn't want him to yell at them like he did Gray.

"It's fine, I only got mad at Gray because he's an ass." Natsu reasurred, giving Lisanna a small smile. "But you seem like a nice girl."

That made Lisanna blush. Lucy suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Natsu continued on, and told the two girls how he actually had no idea why is hair was pink. His brother's was black, and his dad was a red-head. He said that as far as he knew, most of his family were either red-heads, blondes, or brunettes. He talked about his hair the whole way to school, seeming to actually admire it. Lucy did. It was pretty cool to have unusual, special hair like that. She was just a dumb blonde; people often made fun of blondes. Sometimes she wished she had Lisanna's pretty white hair.

Lucy had told him that he was probably going to have to talk to the principal when they got there, since it's against school policy to have unnatural-colored hair dye at their school. He just brushed it off, telling her that he would tell them the truth. Lisanna had put in that it was going to be tough to get the school staff to believe that.

Once the bus had arrived at school and everyone made their way off, the three entered the building, standing there bewildered. The school was huge, filled with students everywhere. How in the hell were they supposed to find their classes?

"S-So big..." Lisanna murmured, "Mira told me it was big, but I wasn't expecting this!". She then looked over at Natsu when he gave her a confused expression. "Oh-Mira is my sister. She's one of the teachers here."

Natsu nodded in understanding. "I see"

"Okay, well let's pull out our schedules and see what's first!" Lucy exclaimed, trying to brighten the mood. She reached into her purse and took out her schedule for the semester. "Um...I have Physical Science with Mr. Conbolt. What about the two of you?"

"Algebra 1, Mrs. Blendy," Lisanna sighed, "It looks like we don't have any classes together either."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "That's wonderful," she turned to Natsu. "What about you?"

The boy scanned his schedule over and over forever, as if he were reading something in a different language. "Um, first I have Mr. Vastia for English 1."

Lucy looked around hopelessly. "Well, guess we're just gonna have to ask around like a bunch of little freshman."

Natsu crossed his arms. "I don't need to ask around; I can find the classrooms myself!"

"Just a word of advice," Lucy inquired, "I would rather act like a little freshman and embarrass myself rather than be late to my first class on the first day." "Lucy is right," Lisanna added, "I wouldn't want to be late either; not a very good first impression."

The three split up. Lucy and Lisanna, and even Natsu, had to ask around at least ten times before finding their classes. It was a long day, and when it was lunchtime, Lucy didn't find Lisanna anywhere. Lucy guessed that she didn't have first lunch, of course. When Lucy had gotten her food, she sat down at a table. Then she started to worry after some time, because she didn't see any of her friends from middle school either. Was she just gonna sit here alone by herself? She really started to panic.

But her panicking stopped when she heard a familiar voice: "Well, look who it is again."

"Natsu?" Sure enough, when Lucy turned around, the pink-haired boy was standing there. He set his tray down next to her.

"I had no idea you had first lunch!"

Natsu shrugged. "Neither did I," He pulled out a chair and sat down. "Your friend doesn't have this lunch?"

Lucy sighed. "Sadly, yes." She had wished she would be able to see more of Lisanna that day, but hadn't seen her at all. So far, high school sucked.

"Well, be grateful you're not alone. You've got me." With that, he gave her a wink, a smile beaming for the second time that day.

Lucy giggled. "I am grateful, Natsu."

Turned out, not only did Lucy have lunch with the boy, she also had her last class of the day with him. They both had Mr. Fernandes for Health Education. Natsu joked about all the mannequins with organs inside them, saying that one of them looked like Lucy, which earned him a small smack from her.

As the days went on and on, Lucy became really good friends with the guy. She made other friends too, like meeting Levy in Book Club when she decided to join. But she had gotten really close with Natsu, and in fact, he was the reason that Lucy began to enjoy High School. He always made her smile, always laughing on the bus in the morning, during class, during lunch, and Mr. Fernandes would often have to tell the two to be quiet during his class. One time they even got sent out into the hall, but they just laughed about it, saying Mr. Fernandes must have serious anger issues.

Natsu even told Lucy that he, along with Zeref, made some friends, and Natsu turned out to be a completely different person than he was at the start of the semester. He fought with Gray at times, but Lucy believed they had become somewhat good acquaintences.

By the middle of the semester, Natsu even called Lucy his "best friend", which made Lucy feel extra special.

And as the days went on, and the more time they spent together, texting after school, helping eachother with homework, studying together, Lucy had realized something.

She was experiencing her first real crush.

She figured that was what the feeling she started having toward him was. Always being excited to see him, constantly thinking about him, noticing how...good-looking and well-built he was, her face growing red when he talked to her. She started to even be shy around her own best friend, and that really told Lucy that she was definitely falling hard for him.

Then Lucy started wondering if Natsu ever felt that way about her, or was just the slightest bit attracted to her. Lucy thought one day, when she told him something funny and he was laughing, she thought she saw him blushing.

Lucy wondered if she should tell Natsu how she felt about him, but was also worried that it would ruin everything. What if he didn't feel the same way and it completely ruined their close friendship with each other?

Luckily, one weekend, Lucy was spending the night at Lisanna's house, and she figured she could talk to her best friend about it then. When they weren't at school or on the bus, when Natsu wasn't around. Lucy also knew that her best friend would never say a word to Natsu if Lucy told her about her feelings.

That night, Lucy and Lisanna made it up to Lisanna's room, set their stuff down, got into their pajamas, got some popcorn, and sat down on the bed.

"So Lucy," Lisanna gave her friend a glare full of evil. "Wanna play truth or dare?"

"You know it, Liz!" Lucy exclaimed without fright. They always played truth or dare, everytime they had a sleepover. It was like a routine.

They had given each other some scary dares. Lisanna dared Lucy to go in front of the bathroom mirror at one in the morning and say some ghost's name three times. She swore to Lisanna if a ghost did actually appear, she would feed her to it.

It was Lucy's turn to ask again. "Alright, Liz. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Oh come on!" Lucy leaned her head back in a groan. "Why the hell can't you say truth for once? The dares are getting boring."

Lisanna raised an eyebrow. "Fine then, blonde-brat. Truth."

Lucy raised a finger to her chin. Thinking about her crush on Natsu, Lucy also wondered if Lisanna had a crush on any guy in high school. Maybe there was someone she met? She was about to find out.

"Lisanna, do you have a crush on someone?"

There was silence. Instead of an instant no, Lisanna's whole face turned bright red. "Um...maybe..." She said quickly.

"Really?" Lucy beamed, holding her friend's hands with her's. "Who?"

"You can't ask for two truths, Lucy."

"I know, but now that's it's already brought up, just tell me!"

For a while, Lisanna looked scared to tell her best friend. Lucy began to feel hurt, but then she had to admit to herself that she felt the same way about telling Lisanna, just because she would die if Natsu ever found out about how she felt. "Um...if I tell you, Lucy, you have to promise you won't tell anyone. This stays between me and you!"

Lucy laughed. "Lisanna, I would never tell anyone, you know that."

Lisanna took her hands out of Lucy's, took a deep breath, and spoke the name. "Natsu."

At that moment, Lucy fell silent, her eyes wide, her cheeks red, and her whole mind went blank, except with the realization that she couldn't have Natsu. Not if her best friend liked him. She almost had tears in her eyes, but fought so hard, and won the battle to hold them back. "Really Lisanna? You like Natsu?"

"Yeah." Lisanna admitted. "After making friends with him on the bus, he's just so nice, and his laugh is so cute!" She clasped her hands together. "I never felt this strong about any guy before, Lucy! I really like him!" Lisanna then put her head down. "But...I don't think that he feels the same..."

"Why wouldn't he?" Lucy put in, trying not to let her voice crack because of her sadness. Right now, she could tell Lisanna that she liked Natsu, and Lisanna being the good friend she was, she would tell Lucy she could go for him. But Lucy didn't want to be selfish. She wanted her friend to be happy. "Lisanna, you are beautiful, and sweet, and kind! I really think he likes you!"

Lisanna looked at Lucy hopefully. "You really think so?"

Still trying to hold back tears, Lucy nodded. "Of course!"

Lisanna wrapped her arms around Lucy. "Could you tell him for me Lucy? Tell him I like him and see what he says?"

Lucy hesitantly wrapped her arms around Lisanna. "S-Sure! Anything for you, Liz!"

"Thanks Lucy, you're the best!"

That night, while Lisanna was soundly sleeping, Lucy laid wide awake, tears finally being able to form in her eyes.

It was Monday, in Health Education. Lucy sat there, staring down and fiddling with her pencil. She was still trying not to cry. She was about to let Natsu go. But if it made Lisanna happy, it was worth it.

Natsu walked into the room. "Hey Luce!" Natsu sat his backpack down in the seat next to her. "Man, I hate Mondays!"

"Y-Yeah, Natsu? Can I talk to you?" Lucy wanted to get straight to the point, and get this over with.

Natsu blinked worriedly. "Sure, Luce. What's up?"

Lucy went for it. She told Natsu that Lisanna really liked him, and that he should give her a chance. Natsu almost couldn't believe it when she was finished. "Lisanna...likes me? Like, like-likes me?"

"Mhmm," Lucy nodded. "I think you should take her out sometime, like on a date."

For a long time, Natsu stared at Lucy, shocked. His mind seemed of somewhere, even though he was looking directly at Lucy. When he was finished thinking, he cleared his throat. "Um, sure, why not? I think it'd be great!"

So Natsu and Lisanna ended up exchanging numbers, and began dating. They were in a happy relationship. Holding hands, kissing, going to school dances together, The two were really happy.

And since then, Lucy Heartflilia, was in fact not happy. She had given away her own happiness for Lisanna's happiness, because that was the kind of person Lucy was. Natsu was Lisanna's, and Lucy was alone.

* * *

 **Hey guys, here's chapter 7! It's one of the longer one's, thankfully.**

 **Thanks for the comments, and sharing your opinions! If you have something you disagree with, don't be afraid to share it with me! I'm happy to see everyone's thoughts, and it actually gives me more ideas for the story! Stay tuned for chapter 8!**


	8. Fake Love

Natsu laid down on his bed in his room, staring up at the ceiling. It seemed like he'd been doing the same exact thing for hours and hours.

He didn't understand. What the hell had he done to upset Lucy? Was going to talk to her all the time too much? Maybe it was her dad, he had no idea. But now he wasn't even sure if Lucy wanted to talk to him.

Then there was Lisanna, his girlfriend that was hurting, and there was nothing he could do about it, all because she wouldn't talk to him. What was he to do? Girls were so confusing. Why did they have to be so...dramafied?

Natsu raised his head up when there was a knock on the door. Without waiting for permission, Natsu's brother Zeref opened it. "Dinner's ready," he muttered.

Natsu huffed with irritation. "You could knock! I could've been naked in here!"

"Oh, like I haven't seen that before," Zeref's head tilted to one side, eyes squinting. "Look, I know you've been having problems with your girlfriend man, but you need to drop the attitude and let her go."

At this, Natsu slowly raised from his bed, staring at his brother in shock. His voice was crisp, almost impossible to hear. "Let her go? Lisanna? Why the hell would I do that?"

As if the answer were obvious, Zeref shrugged. "Cause', you don't love her."

Natsu felt his jaw drop so low that he thought it had maybe fallen off. For the past year and a half, Lisanna had been the sun that lit up his entire world. Whenever she was walking toward him, her beautiful face locking on him made him bust into a wide grin that made his cheeks hurt. When they hugged and kissed, he felt a warm sensation in his body that alerted him of how in love he was and how lucky he was to have this girl. On the previous Valentines Day, Lucy had set the two up on a date and helped Natsu pick out the perfect gift: a necklace with a heart that opened up and said 'To My Love', and inside there was a picture of him and Lisanna, arms around each other, smiling. He never stopped thinking about how sweet and amazing she was.

So of course, Zeref had no idea what he was talking about. Natsu knew that Zeref had bad relationship problems and could never stay with a girl. He didn't know what love was; he had no clue.

Natsu felt like he was on fire, rage flaming up his body. He clenched his fists. "How DARE you say I don't love Lisanna!? I think i'd know about that more than you EVER COULD!"

"NATSU, SHUT IT!" Igneel's voice was heard across the house from the kitchen.

"Yeah dude," Zeref shook his head in annoyance. "Shut up."

Natsu, his face enflamed, buried his head into his pillow. He felt that the world was against him. Lisanna, Lucy, everyone at school, and now his dad and brother. Where had he gone wrong? What did he do to deserve this? "Go away..." his voice was muffled by the pillow that let his head rest. "Leave me alone."

There was silence. Natsu didn't know if Zeref was still in his room or not; he didn't hear footsteps trail out. But he couldn't tell, since all he saw was darkness. That was the only thing he wanted to see right now: darkness. He felt like the sadness would be never-ending, and everyone's hate on him would never stop.

He did lift his head up when he was aware of Zeref sitting on his bed, staring at him. Natsu couldn't believe it when he saw sympathy in his gaze. "Dude, i'm not trying to make you feel bad, but I only said that because there's a good reason."

Natsu squinted. "And what exactly would that be?"

His brother's next words almost took Natsu's breath away completely. "What about Lucy?"

"Lucy?" Natsu gulped. Why was Zeref even bringing her up now? "What about her?"

"You liked her first, right?"

Now, Natsu's breath was completely taken away. He did not want to go back to the days where he had the biggest crush on Lucy, before she had broken his heart by telling him he should date Lisanna.

* * *

As Natsu began making his way to his last class of the day, which was Health Education, he could feel his hands trembling. He just hoped that no one even noticed, but he couldn't help it. He was so nervous; it happened every time he got on the bus in the morning, when he was walking to lunch, and now, to his last class.

There was only one reason why: Lucy.

Lucy Heartfilia was the first friend he'd ever made at Fairy Tail High, when nobody else was nice to him, she offered him a seat on the bus the very first day, which surprised him. He never expected anybody to be so nice to him. He had met her friend Lisanna too, who became a good acquaintance of his; he couldn't really be friends with her since he hardly talked to her. He did try, but she was always shy.

Not Lucy though, for she could talk for hours and hours. On the bus heading to school, Natsu was dazed in a trance when he listened to her talk about the time when her and Lisanna played that ding-dong ditch game and almost got the cops called on them. She would talk about how much homework she had, and which teachers were nice and which ones were assholes. She talked about her favorite stores, and how she loved to read, and had even wrote stories herself. She chanted about the friends she had made and how she missed her friends from middle school who had moved. Her brown eyes glinted gold in the sun when she excitedly mentioned her favorite bands and singers. Lisanna would often tell her that she was too hyper and loud and needed to calm down; she would outspeak the entire bus.

But Natsu never wanted her to stop. He loved how excited she got when she spoke, and he loved hearing about her interests and her hopes and dreams. If he was planning to ask her out someday, he needed to know things about her.

Why was he planning to ask her out? Well, for one thing, she was the most beautiful woman Natsu ever laid eyes on. Not just the first day when she dressed up and had make-up on. To Natsu, she honestly looked more like a queen just with her natural look and self. Another thing, she was so sweet, doing anything she could do help anyone. Even when she didn't know the answer to something that Natsu needed help on, she still tried her best to help him.

She would sometimes even text him to help with some of her homework, or if she didn't get the definition of a vocabulary word written down. He would call her, and they would talk most of the night, until Lucy fell asleep on Natsu.

And the more time they spent together, the more the urge Natsu had to take the sweet, beautiful Lucy Heartfilia into his arms and kiss her. (He wouldn't have done it during school of course, that would be kind of awkward...)

Now, he had the biggest crush on her, and his hands were shaking because today was the day he was going to finally tell Lucy how he felt. After class, he would take her under the willow tree behind the school, sit her down on the bench, and give her a bouqet of flowers. They were actually going to be fake, but that was the point. He was going to tell her that the flowers were fake because they would never die like his love...

Maybe it was a stupid, mushy thing to do, but he was so done hiding his feelings; he had to confess.

He entered his last class, and he swore his heart skipped a beat when he saw Lucy sitting at her desk, staring up at him.

 _'Even if she rejects me, I still hope we can be friends like this...'_ Natsu hoped, taking a deep breath as he walked into the room. "Hey Luce!" He exclaimed, setting his backpack down, trying to hide how nervous he was. "Man, I hate Mondays!" He sat his backpack down in the seat next to her.

When he glanced at Lucy once more, the nervous feeling he had felt all day long suddenly went away and turned into worriedness. She looked like her mind was seriously on something. "Y-Yeah, Natsu? Can I talk to you?" The words poured out of her like a waterfall.

He blinked, allowing his face to show how worried he was. His best friend was acting weird. She wasn't her cheerful, laughing self. She was acting so...different.

Then, hope sparked him. What if Lucy had the same plan he did? What if she felt the same way and was about to confess her feelings? He was suddenly excited about Lucy's weird actions. "Sure, Luce. What's up?"

Lucy clasped her hands together, rubbing one thumb over the other. "So, um...you know Lisanna?" Before Natsu had a chance to answer, she continued. "Well, she really likes you, and I think you should take her out, give her a chance."

The words spilled out of Lucy so fast that it was hard for Natsu to comprehend, but he did, and he wished he didn't. He felt a strong pain in his chest, and he figured it must be heartbreak. "Lisanna...likes me? Like, like-likes me?"

"Mhmm," Lucy nodded, "I think you should take her out sometime, like on a date."

All Natsu could do was stare. How was he supposed to do anything else when his heart was literally fucking breaking in two? The same day he was supposed to tell the girl that made him feel like his was engulfed in flames whenever he saw her that he was in love with her, she tells him that he should date her best friend.

And how could he? He had no interest in Lisanna. Since when did she like him? She hardly said a word when he was around. Maybe she was always too shy because of her liking towards him?

But Natsu couldn't feel any shock about Lisanna's feelings for him. The only thing he could feel was the sharp pain in his chest and the fact that he had to keep himself from showing tears right in front of Lucy. He could have done it; he could have told her that he wanted to be with her, not Lisanna. But then what would be the point? Lucy obviously didn't feel the same. She only saw him as a good friend; nothing more. So why not date Lisanna? It may take his mind off of Lucy and he may start liking the shy girl. At this point, he was willing to try anything in his power to keep from crumbling in heartbreak and sadness. He figured that in the end, he was a teenager; he would get over it. He cleared his throat. "Um,sure,why not?" He replied, "I think it'd be great!"

It wasn't great though. No, not at all. Natsu thought he could fall in love with Lisanna, but you can't force yourself to fall in love. Even now, sitting in his bed, Zeref reminding him of his fake love, he felt like such a huge prick. It wasn't fair to him, and it certainly wasn't fair to Lisanna to have a boyfriend who told her he loved her all the time when he really didn't, and having her believe it. His last intention was to hurt Lisanna, but he did.

Natsu's eyes narrowed in front of Zeref, and he heaved a long sigh. "I loved her, Zeref. I loved Lucy," His gaze rose to meet his brother's, "I still do," he added with a shaking whisper.


	9. Draining Happiness

Lucy placed her biology textbook in her locker. She had been moving rather slow all day long due to carrying the heavy weight of guilt on her. She had been so rude to Natsu. It wasn't like she meant to though; it was all out of worrying that she would say the wrong thing Friday night. She didn't talk to anyone all weekend long. She had the urge a numerous amount of times to text Natsu and apologize for the way she acted, but she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. Now that she thought about it, why would that make him uncomfortable? Maybe she over-thought things way too much. She figured she would relieve her thoughts of guilt by finding Natsu and apologizing to him. It would be better than to keep ignoring him anyway. She wished she would have realized that sooner though.

Her locker slamming shut in front of her face had her jump out of her plans. Someone had come over to slam her locker shut; really hard. When Lucy looked up to find who had done the action, her eyes grew wide with surprise to find the familiar face of the one person she hated more than anyone else in the school.

"Ultear...?" Lucy's voice was faint from having to gulp with nervousness. What did she want?

"Hello, little Lucy!" Ultear was surprisingly not sounding like a stuck up bitch. Her red lips were shape-shifted into a wide grin, eyes wide and welcoming. "Want to have lunch outside the school at the tables today?"

Lucy gave the woman a look of disbelief. "Since when do _you_ want to have lunch with _me_?"

Ultear giggled loudly. Something was definitely up, Lucy figured. "Lucy! You say that as if we aren't friends!"

"Uh..." Lucy took a step back, feeling quite uneasy, "We _aren't_."

Ultear's smile faltered instantly. Lucy had brought her back to her usual state. Maybe it was better that way. "And everybody talks about how rude _I_ am," Her voice was as cold as the expression it belonged to, "But look at _you_."

"Ever thought it was because you stole Natsu from Lisanna like the huge bitch you are?"

Ultear opened her mouth to spit something back at her, but she stopped herself, took a deep breath, and crossed her arms. "Yeah...that's why I want to have lunch together today. I want to talk about...that."

The blonde crossed her arms. So, was she ready to apologize? Apologize for all the hell she had caused, the pain she inflicted in Natsu and Lisanna, her two most dearest friends in the world? "If you're planning on apologizing, i'm not the person you should be apologizing to."

"Lucy," Ultear shook her head, chuckling, arms still crossed. "I don't have to apologize for anything."

Lucy stood in frozen shock. Ultear, the woman standing in front of her, really was a man-stealing bitch, just like everyone said. She thinks it's completely okay to walk up to a man who has had a girlfriend for a long time and loved her so much, grab him and kiss him, in front of his girlfriend? Who on this earth could possibly think there's absolutely nothing wrong with that?

Before Lucy could retort, Ultear uncrossed her arms and laid her hand gently on Lucy's shoulder, speaking in a lighter voice than a few seconds before. "If anything, you should be _thanking_ me."

Lucy wondered if her heart had stopped beating. A new feeling began to make it's way into her: _fear_

Was it at all possible that Ultear...knew? Why else would she say that?

"So," Ultear removed her hand from her shoulder, adjusting her purse on her own, "Are we set for lunch outside today?"

"U-um, yeah, sure," Lucy mumbled quickly. Ultear nodded, turning around and heading down the direction she had came from in the hall.

As Lucy watched her go, she couldn't even take her eyes off of her. Shock and fear cowered over Lucy. She was supposed to be thanking Ultear for all the shit she caused? The only thing Lucy could think of was that Ultear somehow knew how Lucy felt about Natsu. She was wishing so hard that she didn't. And if she did, how the hell did she figure it out?

* * *

The bell for lunch rang in Lucy's ears, and she nervously made her way from French class toward the front entrance of the school. Most students headed toward the cafeteria since that was where most of the students went for lunch. But a few students were heading to the front entrance doors to sit out on the benches. It felt weird for Lucy, because she never went to eat lunch outside. She always ate with her friends at their table in the cafeteria. Plus, usually the popular kids were the ones who ate outside, including Ultear and her prep-girl gang. Lucy guessed she would make an exception today.

The bag of her packed lunch in her hand, she opened the front doors and had no trouble finding the table she would be sitting at. Laughter rang out from the small group of girls sitting around the table to the side of the wall, just outside the doors.

Ultear's laughing gaze fell into a small smile as it landed on Lucy, and she gestured to her with her hand. "Lucy, over here!" She called loudly, allowing Lucy to recieve all stares possible outside. Her face reddened from all the staring, but Ultear didn't even seem to notice.

Lucy walked over, and when she got close enough Ultear scooted over to let the blonde sit down beside her. When she sat down and looked up, she felt her face grow even more red. About eight girls were seated around the small table, all eyes fixed on her. Half of the girls showed confusion as they looked at her; the other half didn't look surprised. Perhaps Ultear didn't have the opportunity to spread the word out to everyone. Thankfully everyone at the other tables had stopped staring and went back to their chatting.

Lucy almost gasped as she felt a hard pat on her back who belonged to Ultear. "Girls, you all know Lucy, right?" She chimed happily.

All the girls nodded, and Lucy recognized all of them, since Ultear and her friends were extremely popular.

Across from Lucy was Sherry, who flipped her pink hair from over her shoulder to her back, blinking her long eyelashes. Ultear wasn't the only one who over-did her make-up. "Welcome, Lucy! Ultear told us you would be eating with us today!"

"Y-Yeah, i'm glad to be here." Lucy gave a shy smile. She wasn't sure exactly how to act around these girls, but what made her uncomfortable was when all the girls started laughing after she said that. Could they tell how nervous she was? Were they laughing at her? She felt like crawling under the table and never coming out.

"Alright, girls, settle down! Settle down!" Ultear giggled, turning to Lucy when the laughter had died down. "So, Lucy, do you know why I invited you here today?"

Lucy shook her head, half of her not wanting to know why, and half of her wanting the opposite. "No, I have no idea." _Lucy, learn how to lie better!_

As if Ultear knew she was lying, she stiffled a giggle. "You sure you have no idea?"

Lucy shrugged her shoulders, trying to pretend she was just guessing. "Something about what happened with..." She looked around at the girls staring intently at her, making her feel uneasy. "Well...you know."

"Me kissing Natsu in front of is little girlfriend at the arcade?" Ultear leaned over on the table. "Girls, you should have _seen_ how upset she was!"

Lucy's eyebrows raised almost to her hairline when all the girls, including Ultear, started laughing. Sherry was clapping her hands together, as if she were congratulating her friend for what she did. Cana, who was sitting beside Sherry, smiled proudly, sipping on her Coca-Cola. "You go girl." Carla was among them too, reaching over and laying her hand on Ultear's arm. "Was she super upset?"

Ultear nodded, smiling wider. "Yes! Like I said, you should have seen it."

While the other girls were laughing and congratulating Ultear, Lucy felt her whole body flush. But instead of embarrassment it was pure anger. How dare all these girls make fun of her friend, and be proud that Ultear had hurt her, right in front of Lucy, her best friend? Were they all asking to be cussed out?"

But, instead of standing up and yelling at them all, Lucy felt a small tear streaming down her cheek.

Sherry was the first to notice, pointing a long finger nail at her. "Hey, girls, Lucy's crying!"

Immediately, all the girls stopped, and stared at Lucy in shock. Perhaps they hadn't expected her to cry over this. Maybe they all were wanting to see the bad side of her come out, to see her scream her head off at them. Lucy was confused as to why she wouldn't. She wanted to; she wanted to give them a piece of her mind. She wanted to knock them all in the mouth with her fist for being proud of the pain they had caused her dearest best friends.

She couldn't bring herself to do it though. Something was holding her back. She sat there, and she cried. Students from other tables started to notice too, but she didn't care. She could hardly even notice. Her tears had bubbled her vision, and she covered her face with her hands, sobbing into them. "Why...?" Lucy's sobbing became louder. "Why did you do it, Ultear...?"

She fought the urge to keep her face in her hands, and brought her tear-filled, red gaze up to meet Ultear's, who looked more shocked than all the girls combined. "Why did you hurt my friends?"

The way Lucy asked her this had been so quiet, filled with sniffling and sobbing. She wanted more than anything at this moment to be able to yell at Ultear, to call her the most stubborn bitch she'd ever met.

Suddenly, the urge changed. This happened when the woman who had put Lucy in this state let out a long sigh, drooping her head down, her long black hair covering her face. Lucy could still hear her words clearly as they rang across the table. "Because they were hurting you, Lucy. How could you not see that?"

Lucy sniffed, wiping away her tears with her hands and staring at Ultear. She wasn't that surprised anymore. The upset teenager had a feeling this was why Ultear had wanted to have lunch with her. "So, you know...?"

Ultear looked sharply at Lucy. "Of course I knew, Lucy!"

"Everyone knew," Cana sighed before chugging her coke once more. The rest of the table nodded in agreement.

Lucy stared at all the girls. "So...you guys were all-"

"In on it, yes." Carla finished for her, nibbling on her hushpuppies.

Lucy took a silent moment, trying her best to process everything that was happening. "Ultear...?" She looked at the troubled woman beside her, her mind blank from giving up on trying to process on her own.

"Lucy, you liked Natsu. Instead of letting him tell you how he felt, you went on and-"

"Wait!" Lucy slammed her hand down on her lap. "Tell me how he felt!?"

"Lucy," Sherry barged in. "Natsu was in love with you, and it was obvious you felt the same way. But during you and Lisanna's truth or dare game that we found out about by Lisanna's gossip, you tell her that she could have Natsu, let alone volunteered to tell Natsu he should date Lisanna. That probably broke his heart." Before Lucy had a chance to reply, she turned to Ultear. "Luckily, Ultear was nice enough to help out. She knew how hurt you'd been, and she figured the only way you could have Natsu was if she ruined his relationship with Lisanna. With how much of a little drama queen Lisanna is, she figured it would ruin everything just enough for Natsu to realize his love for you. And it worked!"

Lucy's stared down at her boots she wore, eyes wide with disbelief. Was it true that Natsu had felt that way about her all that time ago? Had she hurt him by telling him that he should date Lisanna, and he went for it because he figured she didn't feel the same way in order to suggest something like that?

"Natsu..." Lucy gulped, "Was in _love_ with me?"

"He still is," Ultear stared intensely at Lucy. "Look at me, Lucy!"

Lucy turned her gaze slowly to Ultear as she continued. "Let me rephrase what I said before: those two didn't hurt you, you hurt yourself! All because you wanted to make that little friend of yours happy!"

"Well of course I wanted to make her happy!" Lucy blurted out. "She's my best friend! I would always want her to be happy!"

"But was it really worth it?" Ultear spoke softly, but strictly. "Lucy, Lisanna's got an amazing life. Was she the one who had the mother that died? Hell no."

Lucy let out a shaky breath, remembering her mother as Ultear continued. "You already lost someone you love once, Lucy. Lisanna could have dealt with losing a boy. But you let yourself lose someone you love again!? How stupid can you be Lucy? Don't you know that your happiness matters too?"

"Well, I mean-"

"Obviously not!" Ultear stood up. "I know you love Lisanna, Lucy. I love all my friends as well. But life's too short to give away your happiness for someone else. If you keep giving up your happiness to allow someone else to be happy, how can you truly live the life you were destined to live?"

Ultear paused for a moment, then caught enough breath to continue. "You're giving away your life Lucy; don't do that. You keep doing the things you don't want to do just for the sake of others' happiness. You give Natsu to Lisanna, and you're unhappy. You try to save their relationship, and you're still not happy. You're doing homework and housework all the time instead of hanging out with your friends, and you're still unhappy. You don't ever talk about your mother or remember her much to keep your father's mind off of her, and you're still unhappy! What in the hell is wrong with you Lucy!? Can't you see that by throwing the things you want away for the people you love, you're ruining yourself!?"

Ultear took another pause, catching her breath. Lucy, staring wide-eyed, along with the girls at the table, and every student at the other tables, were so quiet that a car on the road from five miles away from the school could probably be heard. Ultear looked around, face redder than her lips, embarrassed. But she shook her head, ignoring all the stares, and swooped her head down close to Lucy's, voice as low as the blowing wind. "If all you're going to do is destroy yourself, before you know it...there won't be any happiness left to give to your loved ones, and they will see that, and they will be destroyed with you."


	10. Breaking It Off

Lisanna made her way through the crowd of students exiting the school for dismissal. Despite all the tall ones bumping into her and nearly running her over, she was still able to keep her balance and find her bus.

When she had made it to the automatic opened doors to the bus, she brought her heel up on one of the steps, and stopped, turning around. Should I wait for Lucy? She wondered. But she was already here, and figured that she should just go on ahead, and Lucy would find her in the back later on.

However, when Lisanna had made her way inside and turned towards the back, she felt her heart stop.

It was Natsu, Natsu was sitting there, giving her a stare as if he were daring her to ignore him. His arms were crossed, and his frown gave way to an expression that Lisanna was surprised to find on Natsu: anger

Lisanna looked around, and noticed that a few other students were making their way onto the bus, and that she would have to pick a seat at some point. Wanting to avoid the spikey pink-haired boy at all possible, she just shifted herself to one of the first seats, staring down at her lap, breathing heavily.

Why couldn't Natsu understand that she just wanted to be left alone? That she didn't want to talk to him? That she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him? He deserved to be ignored! He had made out with a girl right in front of her? He obviously didn't love her at all.

But if that were true, and he didn't care...why couldn't he leave her alone? Why was he trying so hard to get her back?

"Lisanna."

Lisanna flinched. She should have expected Natsu to come over and talk to her, but she still wished so much that he didn't; that he would just leave her be.

"Lisanna," Natsu repeated, his voice as calm as lake water washing over rocks, but as deep as the crashing waves of the ocean, "Look at me, please."

Lisanna gave in. She felt like yelling at him again, but the more she thought about it, she wondered: Where has that gotten her?

Slowly, her frowning face lifted up to his. Natsu may have looked troubled, disappointed, serious, and angry, but he was still so...handsome. She wished that Natsu wouldn't have betrayed her, because he was amazing. She wished she could stand up and throw her arms around him, like she used to. But, he had been a jerk. He had cheated on her, crushed her heart, and that was that.

"What do you want, Natsu...?" Lisanna's voice cracked as she tried her hardest not to cry.

Natsu gestured with his head down to the seat she was sitting in. "May I sit here?" When she had hesitated, he added, "I promise I won't get too close to you."L

"Fine," Lisanna replied stubbornly, scooting to wear she felt her face pressing against the window, trying to provide the two of them as much space as possible as Natsu sat down.

"So?" Lisanna questioned blankly, staring at the crowded students outside the window, "What is it?"

"Lisanna," Natsu, for some reason, sounded stronger. More confident in is words. Before, he had always stuttered, always tried to throw out excuses. Now, he stated his words firmly, and was right to the point. "Before I get into this, I need you to promise me that you will hear me out. No interruptions, no yelling, just listening, asking and answering."

"Natsu, i've got it. Just talk to me."

Natsu drew in a deep breath. "Lisanna, please stop staring out the window. Look at me when i'm talking to you."

Frustrated, Lisanna whipped her head around to stare at him. His eyes were dark, his gaze intense, and it made her want to turn back to the window. "What!?"

Before Natsu could continue, Lucy's head popped up, and Lisanna had almost forgotten that she rode this bus too. Natsu looked around at her, and the two were staring directly at each other for a small while. Natsu nodded to her, as if he were trying to tell the blonde something. After she blinked a couple of times, she made her way to the back of the bus. Lisanna was surprised to see that he was staring at her until she had made her way to her seat.

"Uh, Natsu?" Lisanna pressed.

"Oh, right!" Natsu shook his head, his gaze fixing back to her. "Anyways, what I wanted to say was, um..." He looked down at his lap, biting his lip nervously. Lisanna was so sure she could also see his face turning red. Pathetic, he was going to apologize for all the trouble he had caused in their relationship, for lying about loving her, for kissing Ultear right in front of her. He should know that she wasn't going to forgive him for that, so why is he even still trying?

Lisanna waited patiently while the boy thought for a minute about what he was going to say. It was always like this; he either thought long and hard about what he was going to say or just spat out stupid shit.

Finally, Natsu let out a long sigh, and slowly turned his gaze to Lisanna, and a huge smile seemed to sweep away all the nervousness he seemed to have felt a few seconds before. "I'm breaking up with you."

Lisanna felt her eyes stretch wide open without her even meaning to. _What?_

* * *

 **Hey guys! So sorry for not updating in forever, and this chapter being super short...new semester in school and all that stuff. I will update more as soon as possible! Thanks for sticking with me!**


	11. Something Terrible

"What!?" Lisanna blurted her exact thoughts out, " _You_ are breaking up with _me_?"

Natsu blinked at her in surprise. "Uh...yeah? Why, do you not want me to?"

Lisanna shook her head, bewildered at what this jerk-face was saying. "I thought I would be the one breaking up with you, since you are the one who caused the whole damn thing!"

The boy she was quarreling with stretched his eyes wider, and pointed a finger. "You said a bad word! Lisanna Strauss said the D-word!"

"Would you shut up and just listen to me!?"

"No," Natsu interrupted, his seriousness pierced back on his face, "You listen to me. You promised no interruptions."

Lisanna was about to lash something back at him when she realized that he was right, she had agreed to that. Crossing her arms stubbornly, she nodded to him. "Fine, go ahead."

Natsu sighed before continuing, his voice faltering. "I don't know how to say this, but...I never loved you, Lisanna."

Lisanna wanted to feel angry, but why were tears coming to her eyes instead? Why was she sad over this liar and cheater? "What...?" Her voice cracked.

"Oh, that sounded harsh!" He waved his hands up, trying to excuse himself. "I...I...I do love you!"

"You just said you didn't..." Lisanna felt a tear stream down her cheek, and hid her face in embarrassment with her hands.

"Er...maybe I should rephrase what I said." He brushed a hand towards the back of his head. "I was never... _in_ love with you, like, romantically."

"That doesn't make it any better!" She lashed out, but her tone was more heart-broken rather than angry.

"Shhh, Lisanna, keep it down!" Natsu cringed at the students around them who had been arriving to the bus and sitting down staring at them in bewilderment.

Natsu suddenly spun around in his seat as he felt a hand grasp his shoulder. When he looked up, he grew stiff, his gaze locking on his enemy's:

Gray Fullbuster

"Dude," Gray tightened his grip on Natsu, gritting his teeth, "I think you should leave her alone."

"Dude," Natsu copied, standing up and swatting Gray's hand off of his shoulder, "I think _you_ should mind your own business."

"Hey," Another student, Loke, walked over to stand beside Gray, "The girl is crying, so you're obviously bothering her."

"Cheater," Gray added with a mutter under his breath.

Natsu stared from Gray to Loke, trying to pick out careful words to save himself in this situation. "Listen, guys, I understand that sometimes I can be an idiot, but you know damn well, I would never, ever go as far as cheating," He turned around to Lisanna, who was staring up at him, her eyes still filled with arriving tears. "Please believe that, Lisanna."

Lisanna looked down towards the floor, too embarrassed to say anything.

"You don't have to answer him, Lisanna," Gray murmured, glaring at Natsu as if he were daring him to say more.

Lucy, from the back of the bus, had been watching the whole time, and knew that Natsu was in trouble. He needed her help. She grabbed her backpack, threw it on her back, and stomped towards the boys, passing through the crowd of students boarding the bus. "Guys, that's enough! Leave Natsu alone!"

Gray and Loke both stared at the blonde in shock, but Natsu was the first to speak. "Lucy, I can handle this on my own, I don't need your help."

"And let me try my best to understand something," Gray took a step forward past Loke to stand right in front of Lucy. "Why are you sticking up for him anyway? Shouldn't you be sticking up for your best friend instead?"

Lucy opened her mouth to lash something back at him, but no words came out. She became washed over by guilt; had she been making her friend feel worse by not comforting her at all, always sticking up for Natsu? She felt like a really bad person now.

Suddenly, Loke covered his mouth, his eyes widening in shock. "No way! You _like_ him!"

Gray stared blankly down at him. "What?"

"Huh?" Natsu tipped his head to one side.

"W-What?" Lisanna sniffled, finally speaking up, surprise pushing away her sobbing tone.

"Why the hell would you say that?" Lucy argued. How could Loke even suggest something like that? Lisanna was her best friend, and Natsu was her boyfriend!

Loke shrugged. "Well, I mean, two girls who are best friends are usually always there for each other. Unless of course, they both like the same guy."

"What!?" Lucy spat back in anger. "You think I like him!?"

Lisanna wiped her eyes with her hands before bringing them down to look at her friend. "Is that...true, Lucy? Do you like Natsu?"

Lucy felt her whole body shake with fear and anger, and the next words poured out of her mouth faster than a waterfall, not even stopping to think about what she was going to say. "That has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my entire life! Why in the whole world would I want to be in that kind of relationship with him!? I've honestly never been able to see how you ended up having any interest in him in the first place! I mean, he's such a god damn moron! Did you know that one time, when we were leaving school and you weren't with us at the time, he ran right out in front of a car, and then stuck up a middle finger at them when they honked their horn!?"

"Hey!" Natsu interrupted, sounding offended. "I had to stay late after class and was gonna be late-"

"Oh! And you know that necklace he supposedly bought you himself for your anniversary gift from him!? That was my idea! Not his, mine! You know why, because the freak wasn't even sure what the hell to get you! Hell, he suggested a headband, and you've never even worn those once in your entire life!"

"Lucy," Gray raised his hands up, looking towards Natsu's shocked state, seeing his friend and enemy lost for words. "Take it easy."

"Er, it's my fault..." Loke turned away to stare out the window.

"I mean, come on Liz! Out of all the guys you could have picked, why did it have to be such a jerk like him!?" Lucy's voice started to crack as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Jerk?" Natsu gulped. "Lucy, I never knew I got on your nerves like that, i'm sorry-"

"Yeah, well, you should have thought about that before you went out with my best friend!" Lucy stepped forward, tears streaming down her cheeks as she glared up at Natsu.

Natsu stared at her for a long moment, his eyes clouded with worry, his voice low with pain and concern. "Luce, I didn't know it bothered you that much that I was with Lisanna, are you seriously crying?"

Natsu's hurt tone snapped Lucy back to realization, and she could see that even Natsu was about to have tears, and she suddenly recalled all the hurtful things she had just said about him. Now though, Lucy wasn't sure what to say anymore. She was too shocked with herself to apologize, and everybody on that bus was definitely looking at her. She ran past the rest of the students getting on the bus, jumping off, and ran down the parking lot, across the street until she was safe on the sidewalk that led to her neighborhood quite a bit of miles down.

She couldn't believe what she had just done. All the time Natsu and Lisanna had been together, Lucy had been rooting for them to be together forever. And just then, she went on a huge rant, hating on their relationship all of a sudden. Why, so suddenly, was she so upset about everything now? And why had she said those cruel things about Natsu? Of course she didn't mean it, but why would she still say those things?

Why was she like this, why did the thought of Natsu and Lisanna being together scare her, hurt her, make her crazy and cry like this, insult Natsu, who had always been so kind to her, and lash out at Lisanna, asking her why she would date someone like him?

Her feelings had been hurt at first, sure, when the two started dating. But after awhile, she had gotten over it, right?

Or was Ultear right? Had she been hurt all along, and just somehow been so good at hiding it?

"Lucy!"

Lucy gasped when she heard Natsu yell for her, hearing his shoes hit the sidewalk. Great, what was she supposed to do now!?

"Go away!" Lucy shouted at him, breaking into the fastest run she had ever ran in her entire life. Why was she even doing this? She knew she couldn't run for a long period of time, and that she ran out of breath easily.

Unfortunately, Natsu was much faster than her, and it took no time at all for him to catch up to her and grab her by the arms.

"Natsu, let me go!"

"Luce! Shut up and look at me!" His big hands clasped her wet cheeks, his thumbs rubbing her tears away. When he spoke, it was the softest voice she ever heard. "What's the matter with you? Why are you crying?"

Her face turning pink, Lucy looked away. "I don't know how to tell you!"

He gently turned her face back towards his, and when his dark eyes looked into her's, she knew she was in love, which scared her even more. "Tell me what?"

Lucy looked down at the lines on the sidewalk again. She was surprised that she wasn't forcing herself out of his grasp to run away. Maybe she was so tired of running away from what she really wanted. But she still couldn't bring herself to say it. "I can't tell you, it would ruin everything."

"Look at me, Luce." Once, again, Natsu tipped her head up with his hands, using his fingers to gently brush back her hair. "You can tell me anything, Lucy, you're my best friend. You always have been, and you always will be. Don't be afraid to tell me something."

Lucy gulped, feeling her stomach turn in a knot. She felt so nervous, and her heart was beating so fast. How the hell did he not notice her feelings by now. Was he that dense?

"Natsu," Lucy grabbed his hands with hers and pulled them off her face. "Have you ever been in love with someone, but tried to forget about it and move on, to make someone else happy?"

Lucy expected him to answer with a "No, not really..." or a "Damn, that's a tough situation...". Of course Natsu couldn't possibly be in the same situation as her. Lisanna was the only girl he had ever been in love with.

"Well, yes, actually. I know that feeling very well."

Lucy's head shot up with shock. "Y-You do?"

He gave her a smile, but he didn't look very happy. "Yeah."

"Oh, i'm sorry to hear that, Natsu. That's terrible..." _Lucy, come on! Is that the best advice you can give?_

Her thoughts were shot back to reality and she slightly gasped when Natsu was suddenly so close to her, his gaze scorching her's like fire, and he gently brought one hand to touch her cheek. "Lucy, _you're_ terrible. You know that?"

 _Huh?_ Lucy wasn't sure what he meant, but she didn't have much time to think about it. He leaned his head down, and instead of running away, she stood there, closing her eyes, letting him give her the kiss she had always wanted to feel.


	12. A Part That Will Never Die

Lucy closed her eyes in bliss. She suddenly felt weak in the knees, but knew she would be safe from falling in Natsu's grasp. His kiss was rough, but also soft enough to where she didn't mind it at all. Forever and ever seemed to go by before he finally released her. When she opened up her eyes, he gave her a smile that captured her heart.

"Natsu..." Lucy covered her mouth with her hand, her whole face turning red, and her voice soft and quiet with embarrassment, "Why did you do that?"

The boy shook his head, his smile still showing brightly. He looked somewhat...relieved. "You still don't get it? Look who's dense now."

"You love Lisanna!"

"I love _you_."

Lucy took a step back, her heart pounding in her chest so hard she was sure Natsu could hear it too. Was this seriously happening? Or was she just dreaming of what she wished would happen? A part of her hoped it was just a dream for Lisanna's sake, but most of her wished this was real, that Natsu really did mean what he was saying.

Still, Lucy couldn't let this happen. Lisanna was her best friend in the whole world, and even though Natsu was her best friend too, she couldn't bring down Lisanna's happiness.

"I-I have to go home. See you tomorrow!" Lucy didn't waste anymore time turning around and making a run for it. However, as she ran away farther and farther, more and more tears poured from her eyes.

Had she been doing the right thing? Running away like this? Of course she had. Any good person would make sure to keep her best friend's relationship with her boyfriend alive. She loved Lisanna, and no matter what happened, she was going to make sure that she would keep her and Natsu happy.

After all, they were meant to be together. Natsu and Lisanna would date all through high school and college. Natsu would take Lisanna somewhere romantic, like a restaurant or the beach, and propose to her with the most beautiful ring. She would say yes to him, and they would have a beautiful wedding. Lucy would be the maid of honor, standing there and smiling at the two as they said their vows and shared a beautiful kiss. They would go on a sweet honeymoon, to maybe Hawaii, or Paris, somewhere like that. Lisanna's father would be able to pay for it if he saved up for them. The two would eventually have kids, and their kids would have grandkids. And family would come over to their house for their anniversary parties, and Natsu would be cutting a slice of cake for his wife and give her a kiss. And spend their days, doing the dishes together. Lisanna would be doing laundry and folding clothes, cleaning the house, and Natsu would mow the lawn. They would wake up in the morning together and fall asleep at night together. After a long day, they may sit down on the couch, and watch television together. Natsu would have his arm around Lisanna when they sat on the couch together, making jokes about the stuff they were watching.

They would grow old together, maybe renewing their vows, reminding each other of their love.

And Lucy, well, who would she marry? Could she be happy with anyone? Without Natsu?

Could she really do it? Could she watch her best friend and him be happy together whenever they made up? Could she be happy for Lisanna?

Of course she could. That's what a good friend would do. A good friend would make sure they did everything in their power to make their friend happy. Even if it meant giving up their own happiness.

Lucy wiped her eyes, and stuck her head up in the air. _Yeah, i'll be fine_.

When Lucy had finally made it to her house and walked up the steps and pulled out the keys to the door, she looked behind her to see if Natsu had followed her. But he wasn't there, so he must have let her go.

 _Good,_ Lucy thought Stay with Lisanna Natsu, _E_ _verything will be fine. I'll be fine_.

She walked into the house, and threw her backpack on the ground and let herself lie down on the couch. She reached for a pillow to let her head lie on. She could sure use a nap.

"I'll be fine," She whispered, closing her eyes and letting the realm of sleep take over her.

* * *

"Lucy?"

Lucy blinked open her eyes and released a yawn at the sound of her father's voice. He was staring down at her, concern filling his eyes. "Are you okay? You don't look well."

 _Shit!_ Realization hit Lucy, making her sit up straight. "Dad, why are you home so early?"

He stared at her blankly. "Lucy, it's not early at all. When I got home you were still asleep."

 _Huh!?_ Lucy quickly grabbed her phone and looked at the time. Had she really slept that long? Now she felt really bad, because her routine was to always be sitting on the counter waiting for him, getting him a drink and telling him she loved him. It made her feel good that she did that every night, letting her father know that even though her mother may be gone, there was someone always waiting for him when he came home from work.

And what had she been doing when he had gotten home tonight? Sleeping on the damn couch.

"Dad, i'm so sorry!" She stood up and threw her arms around him. "I love you! I love you so much!"

"Lucy, it's fine, okay-"

"No!" Lucy couldn't keep herself from crying. "Everythings not fine! I'm not fine!"

Lucy had never felt so lost before in her life. She felt like crying and crying and crying for the rest of her life. Her crying only stopped when she felt her father's arms wrap around her comfortingly. She didn't waste a moment and latched on to him.

It had been a long time since they had hugged like this.

"Lucy," Her father patted her on the back of the had gently, "I know how much you miss your mother. And of course there are going to be times when you feel like crying forever. But there are some things that you can't change."

He pulled away from Lucy to look into her eyes. "I should be crying too, but for some reason, I...I can't."

"What?" Lucy sniffed, wiping her nose with her arm. "But you loved mom."

"I loved your mother like she was every part of my happiness. And when I lost her, I felt like I lost everything." He grabbed his daughter's hands in his and smiled sweetly at them. "But you know, I was wrong. I haven't lost everything." Lucy was surprised at the tears in her father's eyes; he had been wrong about not being able to cry. "Layla wanted so bad to have a baby. I never really wanted to be a father of a child. But it was what she wanted. And...now she's gone, but you're still here, Lucy. Maybe Layla had some kind of feeling her death would be soon, and she didn't want me to be alone. She knew that if I were ever alone, I would be lost." Her father wrapped her in his arms again and pulled her close. "I have you, Lucy! You're here, and you're a part of Layla that will never die. I'm so happy!"

Lucy was in tears now too. Her father was saved. For the longest time she had been afraid that her father would never see her as his daughter and more like a roommate. But just now, as he hugged her, she never felt so happy in her entire life. Her father was happy to still have her, and that she was keeping his happiness. And well, that made her feel really amazing.

 _Mom, you may be gone, but i'm still here. And i'll take care of dad. We will take care of each other, forever and ever. I will keep him happy. I will keep him happy until the day he gets to see you again, I promise. I love you, mom._

Lucy heard her phone buzz on the couch, and her dad let her go to grab it. She suddenly got worried when she saw that Lisanna was calling her.

"Um, dad, it's Lisanna. Can I go to my room for a bit and talk to her?"

"Of course, sweetheart. Take all the time you need."

Lucy ran up the stairs and cracked the door to her room. She pressed the green call button and gulped with nervousness. How in the hell was she going to explain her behavior today?

"Hey, Liz. What's up?"

"Hey, Lucy. Um...you acted kind of crazy on the bus today. I was just wanting to make sure that everything was okay."

Lucy bit her lip. "I...yeah, i'm really sorry. I hope you can forgive me. There are no excuses for the things I said to you."

"It's okay," Lisanna then began giggling. "Did Natsu really ask you about headbands as an anniversary gift for me?"

"Uh...yeah. Pretty stupid, right?"

Lucy grew a smile as she heard her best friend laughing for the first time in months. "That's so ridiculous! It's like he didn't know me at all when we were dating!"

Lucy felt her heart stop. "Wait...when you _were_ dating? As in, past-tense?"

"Yeah..." Lisanna fell silent for a few seconds before continuing. "Sucks, doesn't it? I really love him. He broke up with me."

Lucy felt a pain in her chest to hear her best friend sad once again. Hearing Lisanna laugh helped Lucy remember how much she missed that sweet laugh that made her day. "Lisanna, I can talk to him for you, no worries!"

There was another silent pause before Lisanna spoke again. "Could you really try?"

"Of course! That's what best friends do!"

"Lucy, you're the absolute bestest friend in the whole wide world!"

"Yeah." Lucy faked a small laugh. _Sometimes I wish I wasn't_.

* * *

Natsu sat at the table with his father and brother, twisting the spaghetti noodles he had around with a fork. He couldn't help but feel ashamed. Lucy would never talk to him again.

"Hey, Natsu, aren't you going to eat?" Igneel was eyeing his son with concern.

"Huh? Oh, i'm actually not that hungry really."

"That's always your excuse," Zeref rolled his eyes.

"Well, son, if you're finished eating, then why don't you go empty the dishwasher?"

Natsu sighed and stood up slowly. He felt so weak, and so lost with himself. The way Lucy turned her back on him, she definitely never felt the same. How could he have been so stupid?

Just like Lucy said, an idiot. A moron. No wonder she had never seen him that way.

Just then, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see who it was. He felt his palms sweat when he saw Lucy was calling him. "Dad, it's Lucy, can I take this?"

"You should let him, dad," Zeref smirked, "He's in love with her and can't bear to not answer a phone call from her."

Natsu eyed Zeref coldly but didn't bother to say anything. What was he supposed to do, deny it? He knew it was true. He loved the girl so much.

"Hurry up then," Igneel grinned, sipping his drink from his cup.

Natsu didn't hesitate to shut the door to his room and answer the call. He felt himself trembling a little and his forhead sweat when he spoke. "Luce?"

"Natsu," Lucy sighed, "Lisanna is very upset that you broke up with her."

"I see," Natsu sighed with frustration, "Maybe she should have trusted me more."

"I know, but she really regrets it. Maybe she realized how much you meant to her when she lost you."

Natsu felt like punching the wall. Was she really going to brush off his feelings for her and just act like what he said never happened?

"Still," Lucy continued, "Natsu, that's no excuse to just stop me on the sidewalk and kiss me and tell me you love me."

"What!?" Natsu couldn't keep himself from yelling, and on the other end, it frightened Lucy. "Is that the kind of guy you take me for!? The kind of guy who just breaks it off with a girl and tries to hit it off with her best friend just because i'm looking for someone new!? Luce, do you have _any_ idea how strongly I feel about you!?"

Lucy did want to know. "I wanna hear it then, Natsu. Tell me how you feel about me."

Natsu felt strenghth build itself inside him and his head filled with determination. His voice was low, but meaningful. "I'd rather tell you in person."

"Tell me now."

Natsu gritted his teeth. "Stubborn girl, I love you. I have ever since the first time I saw you when you stood up and defended me in the bus on my first day. I have always loved you. Even when dating Lisanna, I still always loved you!" He paused to catch a breath, and when he spoke again, he was able to keep it steadier. "You're the only girl for me Luce, and if we had an anniversary, i'd know damn well what to get you."

Lucy felt so wrong, but all the same so right. She had to know. "What would you get me?"

"Nothing, stupid," Came Natsu's reply. "You would just just need me to tell you that we would always be together. Isn't that right?"

Lucy felt tears of happiness form in her eyes. This was exactly what she had always wanted, and it made her forget her promise to Lisanna. "Yeah, Natsu. That's right."

Natsu felt a smile so big on his face it hurt his cheeks. "Do you love me, Lucy? Cause it sounds an awful lot like it."

Lucy suddenly shot back to reality. What in the hell was she doing!? Her reaction was to just hang up her call with Natsu. She couldn't do this. She had to stay strong, for Lisanna.

What Ultear said to her didn't matter anyway.


	13. Someone Like Me

It was finally Saturday. This past week seemed to be the longest week ever for Lucy. With all the drama, and the stress of her guilt for pretty much letting Natsu know she had feelings for him when she was supposed to get him and Lisanna back together.

Because that was what she had told Lisanna; her friend was feeling down about Natsu breaking up with her. And though it was her fault, she realized she was in the wrong and just how much Natsu meant to her, so Lucy wanted more than anything to make Lisanna happy.

But Natsu had told her that he loved her, and not Lisanna. Who knows? Maybe he just said that because he was being stupid and confused, or some shit like that. Or what if he had meant it, and that's why he always said the lamest romantic things ever to his girlfriend and never knew what to get her as a gift, because he was just using her to get over Lucy.

That made the blonde stop and think for a second, sitting up in her bed. What if this whole entire time, Natsu was trying to get over Lucy, just like Lucy had been trying to get over him? Was that why he was dating Lisanna?

If so, then that was not fair by any means. Lisanna needed someone who could love her for who she was, not just a girl a guy dates to get over another girl. Lisanna was so much more than that.

So, Lucy decided that she needed to figure out if Natsu really did love Lisanna for who she was. But how was she going to do that? Natsu would just say stupid stuff, say that he loved her, over and over again.

God, why did that thought make Lucy feel so damn good? Why did it feel like the best feeling in the world when Natsu told her he loved her?

"Lucy!" Her father's voice came from outside the door. She was surprised at first, but then remembered that her father had been given the day off for working so hard at the factory.

"Coming dad!" Lucy immediately jumped off her bed and opened the door. "What's up?"

"Well," He gave her a smile that warmed her heart, "I thought we could go out, have some quality father-daughter time." He seemed to be smiling a lot more often now, and it must be contageous because Lucy couldn't help but share his smile every time.

"Where did you have in mind?"

"Oh, we can go anywhere really, you pick. Get dressed!" Her father happily made his way down the stairs, "I'll go ahead and start breakfast. What would you like?"

"Well, I would like to go out together for breakfast, but unless you want otherwise then-"

"Then we will go out to eat!" He interrupted her. "Hurry up, you're so slow!"

Lucy laughed so hard she almost snorted. "I haven't even started, give me a break!" She called as she closed the door to her room and laid back against it, sighing in relief. Her father had completely changed, so fast too. Usually, even when his boss offered him a day off, he would refuse to take it, and Lucy guessed it was the house reminding him of the days he has spent with her mother, and he wanted to keep away from it as much as possible. He had never been this cheerful since her mother was alive.

It kind of scared Lucy, because she wasn't used to this dad. But she was so freaking happy too. She was feeling all kinds of emotions bottled up inside her heart that she didn't know what to do anymore.

After Lucy and her father had eaten breakfast, Lucy had suggested going bowling. Her father seemed to be fine with that choice.

Neither of them could bowl to save their lives though. By the time the two games they played ended, their scores were so low. There was one time when her father had gotten a spare and Lucy jumped up and clapped so loud for him.

Afterwards, they decided to go see a movie together. It was a horror movie but her father had never been bothered by them. Lucy practically had her face suffocated in her knees while her dad laughed the entire time. He always found scary movies like that to be stupid.

Later on they went to Lucy's favorite store, Barnes N' Noble. Lucy spent so long there, picking different books off the shelves and flipping through the pages. She absolutely loved books. She loved how they took her to so many different settings, conflicts, mysteries, romance...

Well, no. Scratch the last one, Lucy decided. She was not about to walk down into the romance section; she was pretty much done with romance for a long, long time.

It had gotten to the point where it was getting late, and Lucy was looking through one big book when she felt her father's hand touch her shoulder gently. "Lucy, just pick one already," He chuckled lightly, "I'm not getting any younger here."

"Oh, hush dad, you're still pretty young." Lucy didn't take her eyes off the book she held.

"That's a good one, sweetie, but it's getting late. Seriously."

Lucy huffed, shutting the book. "Fine, i'll take this one."

The drive home from the store was nice. It was getting late, but the sun wasn't starting to set yet, so it wouldn't be shining in their eyes. They talked about the fun day they had on the ride home. That was, until they drove by Natsu's house and Lucy just had to notice. Her thoughts wandered off to him and only him. She began to let her feelings of guilt get to her. She wished she wasn't in love with the same guy as her best friend.

"Is that the pink dude's house you're staring at?" Her dad's question surprised her.

"H-huh? Oh, yeah. That's his house." Lucy laughed nervously.

"Didn't you have a crush on him freshman year?"

Lucy blinked at him. "How would you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've just, been so caught up in your job. Not that i'm blaming you, I just-"

"You're my daughter, Lucy. You may feel that we've grown apart since your mother left, but you're feeling wrong. We have always been closer than you could ever imagine."

Lucy looked down at the floor of the car and felt even more guilty for feeling like her and her father had no relationship for years. They had gotten through it all together, that was the important thing. Their special bond kept them stable.

"And," Her father added, "A father always knows when his daughter is crushing on a boy."

"Not always!"

" _Lucy._ "

"Okay, okay, yes. I liked him freshman year. It was just a little crush though, nothing more."

They pulled into their driveway and her father began to chuckle.

"Uh, dad?" Lucy gave him a look of confusion. "Why on earth are you laughing? No part of that was funny."

"I know, I know." He leaned his head back and rubbed his chin, closing his eyes. "Those were the exact words I said about your mother though."

Lucy still wasn't getting the point of this. "Wow dad! You had a crush on mom? Why didn't you ever tell me?" She spoke sarcastically.

He continued to laugh and decided to play along. "Well, it was soon I realized it was way more than just a crush, and I was embarrassed." He took the keys out of the ignition. "Lucy, in all your years, has your mother or I even told you the story of how we fell in love?"

Lucy almost leaped in her seat. "I always asked mom when I was little but she always said that she would tell me when I was old enough to understand the situation!"

"Well, now I should tell you. This story will beat any other story you have ever read."

* * *

 _Flashback_

Jude was short for a high school dude. About 5'5. It was a challenge for him to get from class to class every day without getting run over by the tall popular guys. He had a few friends, but he was mostly known as the shy and smart guy that all the popular kids cheated off of in class. He wore round glasses, and was always wearing nice clothes. He had a whole droor full of ties, suits, and belts. All the students knew his family was rich, and he probably lived in the richest neighborhood. No bus took students to that neighborhood because most students didn't live there. He had his own car anyway, so he drove home.

His mother and father had wanted to send him to a private school, where there were more students in his league, and he could have a better, easier and more relaxing time with his studies. But Jude had wanted to go to a public school like this. He didn't feel right going to a place like that. Could he ever make friends that way?

This was the day when all the students in the building were loudest: the day of the pep rally. Many students wore blue and purple for their school colors, or had their face painted to show school spirit.

Jude managed to make his way around each student and found an open spot in the gym where he could actually breathe and move around. He scanned the place until he saw his small group of friends on the floor with their backs against the wall.

"Hey guys!"

"Jude!" Frank was one of them, motioning for his friend to sit by him. His friend group wasn't like him at all. They weren't popular, but didn't ever study or worry much about their grades. They were kind of the outcast group.

But Jude didn't mind, as long as he knew that he had friends that cared about him.

It took the principal a short while to calm all the students down when he made his way to the middle of the gym floor. He had began to name all the names of the players on all the sports teams in the school. Jude had never tried out for a sport. He wasn't that kind of guy.

Then the time came for the principal to name the cheerleaders as they walked down a line. The crowd grew louder as the last three were named.

"Anne Jackson!"

The crowd roared in applause.

"Jennifer Miller!"

Even more applause was heard.

"And last but not least, Layla Taylor!"

Jude kept his eyes glued to the one girl that the whole school knew like she was their best friend. The most popular girl in the entire school. She had made her way to the front of the group of cheerleaders and let her brown eyes and wide, white grin lay on the students who were crowded all around the gym. She raised her pom-pom up, along with the rest of the cheerleaders, and began the cheer that they had always done each day before the night of a football game.

Layla was the cheer captain, so on a few cheers, she had been given a microphone by the principal to hold and speak into.

"Hello Fiore High!" Layla called out into the mic, her light, high-pitched voice rang out over all the loud cheers filled with excitement spilling through the gym. "If you all don't mind, remind me who we are again?"

"THE FIORE MAGES!" Jude could see Layla covering her ears as screams plunged out towards her direction, but the laughter on her face showed that she didn't mind at all.

Uncovering her ears, she kept her smile and spoke once again. "And remind me again, who are we going against tonight?"

"THE MAGNOLIA DRAGONS!" The students screamed louder, stomping their feet on the floor and holding up signs that they had made to show support to the football team.

"Oh, and one more thing," Layla pretended she didn't know what their response was going to be, "Remind me, which team is gonna win tonight?"

"US!"

"Who is "us"!?"

"THE FIORE MAGES!"

"SPELL IT FOR US!" Layla gave the microphone back to the principal and raised her pom-poms, her and the other cheerleaders behind her shaking them in the air.

"M-A-G-E-S, MAGES!"

The rest of the pep rally went wild, as Jude had expected. Him and his friends just sat in the corner, watching from afar. The outcast corner, Jude liked to call it. He didn't really care if his school's team one tonight, or any football game. The only thing he needed to worry about were his grades.

He had went in the next day, and the students were standing in different parts of the hallway, talking about the big win that had been won last night.

When he was walking into his first class, he saw Layla and a group of her friends chatting excitedly outside the classroom door. He had his first class with Layla, and her seat was right next to him. She wasn't friends with him, but she knew he existed.

When he walked by, Layla had caught his eye, and gave a sweet smile. "Hi, Jude!"

He felt the rest of the group staring at him in disapproval. Why did Layla have to embarrass him like that? He looked away from her and walked into the classroom, getting his folder and textbook out and beginning the daily assignment.

When the bell had rang, Layla quickly said goodbye to her friends and ran to her desk, getting her things out and pretending she had already been in class and working before the bell rang when the teacher had walked in.

"Okay, class!" The teacher sat down at her desk. "Get your daily work done, and clear your desks! We have our test today!"

Jude, having his work already turned in, began to clear his desk when he heard Layla gasp next to him. "Oh, shit! Oh no, oh no, oh no!" She whispered as she quickly got out her folder and looked through her notes, papers flying everywhere all over the desk. "I completely forgot to study!"

Jude tried his best to ignore her. She should have done her studying last night. Her grades were more important than a stupid football game, and she should know that at her age.

But he had felt her gaze on him, and gave a frustrated sigh. "Don't ask!"

"Jude, you don't understand! I had the game last night and the test completely slipped my mind! You're really smart, you could help me real quick!"

He shook his head. "There's no time! We have to clear our desks!"

"Jude, please!" She put her hand on his shoulder. "I need you right now!"

He scooted away from her, and gave her a harsh glance, furiousity in his eyes. "Well, I would appreciate not being used, so leave me alone."

He didn't look at her again for the rest of class, and when the bell rang he immediately packed his things and walked out of the classroom.

Layla Taylor seemed nice, but Jude knew that deep down she didn't give a crap about him. She just always sat next to him to keep her grades good, because everything else seemed to be a priority before her grades.

Every day it was like that. She would always talk to him, but it would only be to ask a question about something or the homework the class was supposed to do last night. And quite honestly, it annoyed him in every way.

And every time the bell rang for classes to switch, Layla would always be with her huge group of popular friends gossiping about useless stuff.

The last class of the day was the most annoying though, because not only was she in there with him also, so was her boyfriend.

Tyde Walker was his name. He was the second-most popular kid in the school. Layla sat in the desk next to Jude's, as usual, and Tyde sat in front of her. It would annoy him because they would always be whispering or flirting or holding hands when they were supposed to be doing their work.

In every single way, Layla got on his nerves. Sometimes, despite his little amount of friends he had at this school, he wished he had went to a different one. She was the most annoying person he had ever met.

"Jude!"

He tried to ignore her whispers.

"Jude!" This time, she tapped him on the arm.

"What now!?" He snapped, whipping his head around to face her.

"Hey man, chill." Tyde glared at him as if he were about to punch his face in.

"Nevermind, it's okay..." Layla looked down at her work. "I should learn to figure things out for myself anyways, I guess."

Jude suddenly felt the familiar enemy of guilt slapping him in the face. It was always like this. Layla would keep on bothering him when she couldn't figure out something, even when it wasn't even that hard to understand. He would snap at her, and when he did, she would look down at the floor or around at the walls, her feelings seeming quite hurt, and Jude would feel guilty. He wasn't a rude person, or at least he didn't try to be. He just wished Layla would stop asking him question after question all the damn time.

Even so, she was just asking. Some people don't really comprehend or find a solution to a problem as fast as others, and Layla was one of those people. So, why would he get so annoyed and yell at her? He wasn't like that with other people when they asked him a lot of questions. Layla asked more than anyone.

But was that what really got on his nerves? And it's not like Layla was a rude person just trying to give him a hard time. She was really sweet and friendly, wouldn't hurt a fly. He hated being rude to a person like her. He tried his best to do better, but no matter what he was always just automatically rude to her. It actually started to become a really bad habit.

Washed over by guilt so much that he felt sick with himself, he got up from his desk and went to the teacher to ask permission to go to the restroom. Once he had signed out and was relieved to find that he had it all to himself, he removed his glasses, turned on the sink and washed his face.

Maybe he was stressed out all the time with school? And because Layla talked to him so much, she was the easiest to take things out on?

No, no way. That couldn't be it. Quite a bit of people talked to him. So why was he so rude? He wasn't a rude person at all, and now because her boyfriend who tells everyone everything saw the way he acted just then, another rumor about him being a guy to stay away from and can't be friends with would spread around the school.

But the strangest of all...he couldn't ever stop thinking about her. How upset she looked when he was rude to her. And how even then she still always had a smile on her face. Why was he suddenly feeling sick?

What was...wrong with him?

"Uh...Jude?"

Jude jumped back in surprise. He didn't expect anyone to come in here and say his name, much less a girl's voice saying it. And not just any girl. "Layla...?" He adjusted his glasses to his face, blinking in surprise. "Why are you in here!?"

Layla giggled, her beautiful smile glowing on her face, which surprised Jude considering what just happened in class. "Oh, I just...wanted to apologize to you."

Jude looked around, then looked back at her like she just grew fifteen eyes. "In the men's bathroom!?"

Layla's face grew a little pink, and her gaze fell to the floor. "Um, yeah."

Jude shook his head. "You're going to get in huge trouble! What if another guy walks in here!?"

As if on cue, a group of guy's voices were heard making their way up the hall and into the bathroom. It was a small group of tennis players, Jude saw. He prepared himself for their reaction when they saw Layla in there. But when they did, they smiled and waved at her like it was nothing. "Sup, Layla?" One of them greeted.

"Hi!" Layla greeted back cheerfully.

Jude just stood there, mouth hung open. "W-Wha...?"

"Hmm..." Layla interrupted his thoughts, "They may make too much noise talking in here, since they're just skipping class. Wanna go talk in the other bathroom next to this one?"

"Uh, I really hope you're joking."

"Why?"

"It's the womens' restroom!"

"So?"

"Are you that stupid!?" Jude almost yelled at her out loud, and caught himself in his words. He didn't mean to call her that, and she looked a littel offended. He caught the group of boys on the other side of the restroom staring at him in anger. "S-Sorry."

"No, it's okay. I was just messing with you anyways."

"You were _joking?_ "

"Haha, yeah." Layla took her hand and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, looking down at the floor again.

Jude felt sick with guilt once again. If he would have known she was just joking, he wouldn't have called her that. "I should go."  
He immediately made his way out into the hallway, trying to speedwalk back to class, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed Layla was right behind him. "You didn't give me a chance to apologize."

Jude stopped in his tracks and looked at her sympathetically, heaving a long sigh. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I'm always rude to you."

"Yeah, but..." Her voice suddenly got softer and quieter, and Jude had to lean in closer to hear what she was saying. "You have a reason to be."  
She crossed her arms and tipped her head to one side. "Do you really think i'm just using you to pass high school?"

Jude felt his whole body heat rise. "What!? No, no! I-"

"Then can you explain what you meant this morning, in class?"

"I-" He tried to think of an excuse to avoid making her feel bad, but failed. "Yeah. Yeah I do."

"Oh." Layla let her arms fall to her sides, and Jude noticed that she was shaking. "I-I'm sorry..."

"Uh, Layla? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." She sniffed, and Jude noticed she was crying, tears streaming from her eyes. "I-I didn't m-mean for it to s-seem that way..." Her voice sounded like she was choking, and she rubbed her eyes, breaking down.

"Layla? No, I wasn't-"

"I'm such a horrible person! I'm sorry!" She walked past him, fast like lightning.

Jude stood there in shock. He had actually made her cry. He felt like absolute shit. Still, why would she cry over him? Did what he thought of her really get to her feelings that bad? What was wrong with her?

No, the real question was: What was wrong with him? How could he have ruined her like that? He was the horrible person, not her.

But right now, when he realized he was in the wrong, his instinct was to blurt out something, anything, to stop her so he could apologize. So, he blurt out the first thing he could think of. "Wait! I like you!"

Layla immediately stopped in her tracks, and a last tear fell down her cheek as she turned around to Jude, eyes wide with shock. "What?"

Jude gulped. He was just as shocked as her. Why the hell did he say that? Out of all the things he could have told her to reassure her, why did he say that? Why was that the first thing that came out of his mouth when he tried to stop her? He took his hand and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I, well, what I meant, was, uh..." Come on, Jude! Think of something! "You're really cool, and nice, and...what's not to like about you?"

"You have a crush on me?" Layla blinked, giving her eye a second wipe.

Jude felt his face burning. "W-What!? NO!"

Layla smiled a little bit, her cheeks a little pink. "Aww, look at you! Your face is so red!"

"I'm going back to class!" Jude wanted to run away; he was so embarrassed. Why did she have to say that? Just because he said he liked her, doesn't mean he meant attraction!

"Wait, Jude!" Layla grabbed his arm, "I-I was just joking..."

Jude thought he was seeing wrong, but he could have swore he saw her face go a little red, and she looked kind of embarrassed herself. Jude was surprised with what he was feeling, and why he felt upset that she was just joking. Was she right? Did he have a crush on her?

"We should get back..." He muttered awkwardly after a short while.

There was silence for a second when they both were walking back towards the classroom before Layla stopped in her tracks. "Jude, I just want you to know that I would never use you. You're not an object, you're a person, and an amazing one at that." She hesitated for a second before continuing. "I want us to be friends."

Jude looked at her for a long time, as if he were studying whether she was actually serious or if she was just joking once again.

"Not joking this time," Layla seemed to have read his thoughts. "I'm serious."

"No you're not," He laughed. "I mean, how could you be friends with someone like me?"

Layla blinked at him in confusion. "Someone...like you? What are you-"

"Don't pretend you don't know what i'm talking about!"

There was a long silence. Layla had been staring at him with deep concern filling her eyes. She reached out her hand but he stepped back and looked at her sternly. "I'm out of your league, Layla. We can't be friends." He turned toward the classroom, and looked back at her before continuing on, his eyes clouded with a weary look. "And if you still don't understand, then you really are stupid."


	14. A Hero

The rest of the year passed by Jude really slow. He wasn't enjoying school at all. Well, he never really enjoyed school. Yet every morning it seemed as if someone had to tie him with a rope and yank him out of bed.

At first, he didn't really like school. But now?

He absolutely hated it. The thought of it, being in it, everything.

He didn't even socialize that much with his friends anymore. The guy just wasn't ever feeling up to it anymore. Every time they asked him if he wanted to hang out with them after school, he always came up with some dumb excuse: He was tired, or had too much homework, all of the above.

His friends had eventually gotten to the point where they stopped asking him, stopped socializing with him. They would always ask him what was wrong before, but Jude would always give them the same answer: nothing was wrong.

One day, he overheard his friends in the hall. He had been in the men's room, when he heard familiar voices outside the door:

"What the hell is wrong with Jude these days? He hardly has time for us anymore!"

"He's such an ass. He's probably too good for us losers, he's got all the money in the world to do whatever the hell he wants with. He doesn't need us."

"Yeah, he probably figures after high school he's going to work on starting some huge ass business just like his dad. He won't have time for us."

"Who needs him anyways?"

"No wonder we were his only friends. We were the only ones nice enough to let him hang with us in this school. If he's just going to turn his back on us, then he's nothing but a huge dick."

"Hey, at least after school, we'll still _have_ friends."

Jude shut his eyes when he heard their footsteps entering the restroom. There was silence for a long while. The kind of silence that you felt frozen in, mind blank, holding your breath.

"Jude...?" One of the guys in the group had spoken, but the voice was so quiet with shock, Jude didn't even recognize who had whispered his name. Without opening his eyes, he dashed through the group so hard that he felt them break apart just enough for him to get through in less than a second. When he opened his eyes again, he was out of the restroom, in the quiet hallway. No one else, just him. Alone.

Jude let out a long sigh, heavy with heartache. He felt so lonely, so lost. Not only had he continued to hurt Layla all of his years of school, now he had hurt his friends. He didn't have anyone now.

In the end, he figured he didn't deserve to be happy anyways. Not with the way he treated people.

No matter what, he never failed to disappoint. The whole school pretty much looked down on him, hated him. He knew he would never amount to his father's expectations, always wanted him to take over his business ever since Jude had been born. It wasn't what Jude wanted though. He couldn't really put a finger on it, but something in his head was telling him that taking over his father's business wasn't the right path for him. There was something else out there, something much bigger, waiting for him.

There was nothing left here for him though. No friends, and he wasn't in advanced classes. He soon began to wonder if there was any point in going to this school anymore. What was he still doing here? He was already unhappy here every single day. He just felt like he didn't belong, like this isn't where he was meant to be.

Jude had made a final decision. He was having dinner with his parents when he laid his fork down and cleared his throat. "Mother, father, i'd like to ask of something..."

Both his parents had set their silverware down as well and wiped their mouths, his mother being the first to speak. "The polite thing to do Jude would be to wait until we finish dinner to speak, unless it is a rather important matter."

"I...figured you two would be proud of this announcement," Jude cleared his throat once more, shaking with tension. For a second, he felt hesitation, as if he were about to walk down the wrong path, one of his greatest fears. But he ignored the little voice in the back of his head and continued. "I have decided to transfer to that private school."

His mother and father looked at each other for a short while, but anyone could tell by their expressions that they were most pleased with their son's decision.

"A wise choice, son," His father had smiled for the first time in months. "You will be signed up and transfered as soon as possible."

"Well, actually..." Jude gulped, afraid of his parents being disappointed in him once again. "I wish to finish out the school year at Fiore High, if you will let me..."

As expected, both of them seemed repulsed by the idea. "Why wait?" His mother questioned, slightly shocked and frustrated.

 _Why wait?_ Well, Jude actually had not even thought about it before he said it. The words just kind of left his mouth without questioning. Although there was something deep down in his gut that was telling him he could not just leave. Why that was? He honestly had no clue. Why in the world would he stay at this school any longer when there was literally nothing there for him? The private school would give him plenty more opportunities. He would be more challenged, work harder.

But what he was doing also felt so right. It was weird. He hoped that we was not just finishing the last two months at this school for nothing.

"I just...like to finish before I start again."

His parents, after a bit more consulting, finally decided to let him finish the year at Fiore High. Jude started having more energy for school. Maybe something would change, things would get better. Maybe it was destiny for him to stay, like some light at the end of the tunnel. He still was not sure why, but there was a reason he was still there, and he was willing to wait for it.

About a couple weeks later of the same lonely, long, boring day over and over, something was different about the school.

Posters for prom everywhere on the walls.

They were all decorated, some small with light details that explained to anyone it only took a class period to finish. But others were huge, some taking up the entire wall. Jude figured it must have taken a whole week to work on the poster, even with more than one person.

 _How_ _annoying_

Why did prom even matter? It was just another stupid waste of time for the popular students to take the spotlight with their popular dates.

And, yeah, maybe Jude just thought that because no one would ever possibly want to go to prom with him. Jude himself wouldn't even think twice about asking a nerd who kept to himself all the time to go to prom.

For a second he felt his chest ache, but brushed it off. Why should he care that no one at this school would want to take him to prom? Nobody here mattered, and in two months he would be gone, never have to set eyes on these self-minded people ever again.

And then, those hesitant thoughts would come again. The thoughts about leaving the school. Why would he have doubts about leaving? How can one not want to leave a place that they hate?

There was something holding him back, but what?

No, not something.

 _Someone_

And that someone was none other than Layla Renee Taylor.

He had pretended not to know. He had pretended to be naive. But Jude was a smart young man, and he knew that he had crushed on this beautiful Layla girl and was still crushing. Why did he like her though?

Could it be that he wished he could be like her? She was one who anyone could admire from afar. Jude wanted to at least be admired by one person his whole life. But that couldn't be it. Was it that she was always nice to him?

Or was it simply because she was so...amazing?

Why did he push her away like that? Why would he not want to be friends with her? Having her as a friend would be way better than not being able to have her at all. Did he not want to be embarrassed?

No, he did not want _her_ to be embarrassed. To have her go through the humiliation of talking to him. To have the judgement of all her friends. She would definitely be better off having all of her friends than just him. Her popular reputation would drag down, and if she was his friend, well...she would probably end up the same as him.

Out of place, alone, no friends...an outcast.

And though it pained him to not be able to tell her the truth about how he felt, at least she was happy...

"Stop!"

Jude's head shot up from looking down at the concrete that lead to the entrance of the school. School had ended, and he had been walking to his car when he heard a yelling whisper that was assisted with anger and frustration.

Layla had been trying to yank her arm out of her boyfriend's grasp. But his grip was too strong, and the more she pulled, the tighter he gripped, making her wince in pain.

"Come on, stop being like that! You know you want to."

The man's cold, harsh voice brought Jude's own anger out of his eyes. _'What in the hell is he doing to her!?'_ He asked himself, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands.

Layla's whispering turned into a loud yell. "I said i'm not ready for that, and I won't be for a long time! And if you can't respect that-"

"We've been together for a year now!" He shoved her to the ground harshly, Layla landing on the concrete and causing the girl to cry out. "How much longer do you possibly want to wait!?"

It only took a second for the guy to be knocked out, blood spreading across his face. His forehead hit the concrete, causing a huge scrape.

Layla forgot about her pain when she looked up at what happened. Her mouth hung open, eyes wide, as she stared at her rescuer. "J-Jude...?"

Layla was kind of frightened by the expression on Jude's face. Not because she was afraid of him, but because she was seeing a side of the quiet, shy man that she had never seen before. He wasn't just angry, he was... _mad_.

There was blood on his shaking knuckles, and Layla looked to Tyde, seeing him covering his bloodied face on the ground.

A crowd of students had gathered around them, making Layla feel quite uncomfortable. She was afraid for Jude. After all, he had just punched the most well-known guy at school.

Jude brought his gaze to her, not seeming to take notice of the crowd around them. Layla saw warmth replace the rage when he looked at her, and she herself felt warm inside when he kneeled down and let her rest her head against his arm. She gasped when he brushed his hand against the scratch on her arm carefully. "Are you all right?" He spoke softly, every breath filled with care. He was so close, and Layla felt her heart might burst.

"Um, Jude, Tyde, he's on the ground, he's bleedi-"

"I'm not asking about _him,_ " Jude's voice was firm, but still filled with concern. "I'm asking about _you._ "

Layla gave a sigh, grasping his hand with her's, ignoring the little amount of blood on it. "I'm fine."

"You...You son of a bitch!" Tyde stood up, glaring at Jude with burning hatred bursting into flames. "Get your hands off of her! She's _mine!_ "

The circular crowd around them was silent, all eyes fixed on Jude for his response. They had all wanted to experience this side of the quiet nerd that sat in class alone.

Jude wasn't afraid though. He was burning with all emotions of anger that he couldn't be afraid. He held Layla close to him protectively as he gritted his teeth. "At least i'm not doing to her what you were doing seconds ago." He muttered, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"W-What the hell did you just say to me!?"

With that, Tyde didn't give Jude a chance to respond as he charged towards Jude with a fist held back, ready to do the same to him, but luckily he wasn't fast enough as the school officer came out of nowhere and grabbed him, dragging him into the school as he threw curses.

Chatter began to erupt all around the students outside. Jude half-listened to their conversations, eyes fixed on Layla.

"Did Jude seriously punch Tyde just now?"

"And he did some damage to his face too. Never saw that coming!"

"Layla is probably so humiliated right now, her 'tough' boyfriend getting beaten up by a nerd!"

"Why did Jude punch him in the first place?"

"I saw Layla arguing with him and he pushed her to the ground!"

"Tyde pushed his own girlfriend!? That's low, coming from him!"

"He deserved to get a beating!"

And as the truth spread around, students began hollering and whistling at Jude, clapping overpowering the crowd.

Layla copied his smile, staring into Jude's eyes. "You're my hero," She stated shyly, causing her to look from him down to her lap, obviously embarrassed.

Jude was about to respond, but was interrupted when the principal, Mr. Conbolt, made his way through the crowd, staring down at the two. "Jude, my office. Layla, you go to the nurse so she can tend to your arm, and then you can join Jude."

About an hour later, Layla and Jude were sitting in the office together alone. Mr. Conbolt had left to talk to Tyde.

They both sat there in silence for a bit. Jude looked down from Layla as if he were in deep thought, trying to think of what to say at this moment.

Layla wanted to break the ice. "I-I'm sorry you have to be in detent-"

"Stop apologizing." Jude interrupted in a gruff voice. He seemed frustrated, not making eye contact with her at all.

Layla scooted closer to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Even though Jude knew deep down he did the right thing, he still couldn't get the words he had heard from the large group earlier. "I should be sorry for humiliating you."

"Oh," Layla understood, standing in front of him, placing both hands on each shoulder. "Don't worry about that! I'm actually relieved...he was trying to force me to do something I wasn't ready for..."

Jude swallowed hard, and he felt as if a huge lump was in his throat as he spoke. "Layla, you don't deserve that."

She curiously tipped her head to one side, a small grin on her face. "What do you think I deserve then?"

He brought his gaze up to meet her's, his hands led Layla's away from his shoulders and into his warm grasp. He swallowed again, appearing nervous, sweat leaking from the top of his head a little bit. But he did his best to cover up his shyness. "A hero."

* * *

"And at that very moment, my dear Lucy, I knew I had figured out why I couldn't leave, what was keeping me at Fiore High. It had been your sweet and beautiful mother."

Lucy watched her dad closely enough to catch a small tear forming in his eye as he continued. "She was the love of my life." He turned to his daughter with a smile that needed zero proof of his love for her. "And so are you."

Lucy had to keep herself from crying. That story was absolutely beautiful. The way he had described her mother, the way he, despite all the doubts he had, did not give up on her. Every story Lucy had ever read or listened to, she always learned something new. And from this story, she learned three things:

One: Her dad had every right to act the way he acted for years. Lucy could no longer blame him.

Two: Her mother was like, everything she wants to be in High School.

And three: In love, there will be situations, times where one feels like they aren't good enough, and they will hurt themselves to try to make the person they love happy because they assume they know what's best for them when in reality the person they love could be hurting too. But you can't hurt yourself. You have to take risks, take chances, because everyone deserves to be happy. Lucy should have been smart, and been honest with Lisanna from the very beginning. She should have told her that she liked Natsu. Lisanna was her best friend and deserved to be happy, but hell, so did she. Lucy was a person with feelings too, and her mother would most certainly not appreciate her throwing her own happiness away for others, even her best friend who her mother also loved.

Lucy realized what Ultear meant this entire time. One's own happiness should not be given away. Happiness is a treasure that should not be sold. Every person is gifted with happiness. If one tries hard enough on their own, they will unlock their happiness. But happiness should not be obtained from another, even your closest friends.

Lucy knew what she had to do. And it had something to do with a cute pink-haired boy she couldn't wait to kiss.

* * *

 **Hi everyone, i'm so sorry about the late updating, and it's been awhile. The story is not finished yet, but it's been so long since the last update I figured I would finally put up a new chapter. Hope you liked it and please feel free to review!**

 **Again i'm sorry about the late updates. A lot of life stuff has been happening, so yeah...but still working hard on the story!**


	15. That Kiss

"Well, _someone_ is in a cheery mood!"

Lucy and Levy were leaving from Book Club. Lucy had been in a good mood today, but after the two friends departed from the library, she was smiling like an idiot. Levy could not help but question her gigantic grin.

Lucy giggled, eyes shining as if stars were in them. "That's because I finally know who i'm doing my project on!"

Levy clapped her hands together, congratulating her. "Really? So have I." They had stopped by the vending machine so each could get a bottle of water. "So, who is the special person that changed the way you look at life?" Levy questioned as she inserted her dollar into the slot of the machine.

The blonde hesitated, causing her friend to look up. "Um, you first."

Levy tipped her head in confusion. "Uh, okay..." She shook her head and continued, inserting Lucy's dollar in after receiving her drink. "I'm actually doing my project on Mavis." She then made a face at Lucy when she was caught smiling. "And no, not to be her favorite."

Lucy laughed, patting Levy on the back. "Aww, I know you wouldn't choose her just for that." She grabbed her drink and proceeded to walk with Levy to the last hallway. "Seriously though, that's really sweet! She's an amazing teacher."

"And friend at that!" Levy's voice was filled with pure joy, similar to Lucy's smile. "She has helped me through so much. She raised my confidence in my writing and dream to be an author!" Her smile multiplied as she stated her next words. "From Mavis, I learned that the only way you will fail is if you fail yourself. If you have a dream, chase it! It doesn't matter who you are, you can accomplish anything as long as you have a passion for it."

Lucy couldn't help but relate what Levy explained to her situation. Not only had Lucy been failing herself, she had been failing Lisanna and Natsu both for not telling either of them the truth. But she knew better now. She loved her best friend, but Natsu truly was her dream.

She just hoped that in the end, Lisanna could bring her own happiness out of her too.

"So," Levy pressed, "It's your turn."

"Oh, right," Lucy brought herself back from the thoughts in her head. "I'm doing my project on...my dad."

Levy blinked, turning to face her directly. "So you really are going to do it on your dad? I thought you were just joking before."

Lucy sighed, feeling guilty about what she had said before, about how her dad had made life more depressing for her every day. She did not mean a word of it. She was just frustrated and spoke what she had not meant at heart. "Yes, but not for the reason I said before."

Lucy took a breath before continuing. "My father taught me that no matter what, the one thing about yourself you should never give up, for anyone, is your own happiness."

When Levy gave a blank expression, the girl continued. "Levy, for so long, I had lost my happiness. I was giving it away all the time. In a situation i'm in now, I was in love with a boy who means the world to me, and it turns out he loved me too! But my best friend was also in love with him, and in order to make her happy, I had pretended I had no interest in him, which I thought would be impossible for me to do."

Lucy took a breath, and huffed out another one that shook with nervousness. "I-It's Lisanna," She shut her eyes tight as she let the names pour out, "A-And N-Natsu is..."

She expected her friend to stop dead on in the middle of the hallway and give her a widening stare filled with shock. But, to her surprise, Levy acted the opposite. "Well, it's about time you admit it to me."

Lucy gasped. "W-What!? You knew too!?"

"Literally everyone knew!" Levy rolled her eyes, turning away from Lucy to head down the hallway that led to her last class. "You act so braindead sometimes!" She held her hand up behind her to bid her friend farewell.

Lucy stared after her, mouth hung open. Was it really that obvious?

* * *

School was over, and Lucy was fighting her way through the crowd. She was on her way to the bathroom. When she approached the entrance, she was surprised to find Ultear go in before her.

Lucy figured this would be the appropriate time to thank Ultear for everything; not just her dad.

She peeked her head around the corner and saw Ultear looking at herself in the mirror, studying her face. She seemed somewhat worried about her appearance. Why did she look concerned? She was always confident that she was the most beautiful woman in school. At least, that's what Lucy thought.

"Um...Ultear?"

Ultear whipped her head to the side to discover who the voice had come from. When she realized it was Lucy, she looked relieved. "Oh, Lucy!" She continued to run her hands through her hair, a smile on her face. "It's just you."

 _Why on Earth would she be relieved to see me?_

"Um, I just wanted to thank you," Lucy looked down at the ground, tucking her hair behind her ear awkwardly. She could not believe she was thanking Ultear, the school snob. "For everything."

Ultear looked in silence at the girl for a few seconds, followed by a few blinks, before her face shifted to a small smirk. "So, are you ready to apologize?"

"H-Hey! I don't have to apologize to y-"

Ultear tugged her eyebrows down in a daring look, which brought Lucy to realize that she should probably apologize for calling Ultear a bitch, even if she did not know yet that Ultear was just trying to help her. "I mean, yes, i'm sorry. I had no idea you were trying to help me." She squeezed her arm with her hand. "I just thought you wanted to hurt Lisanna."

There was another moment of silence. After awhile Lucy raised her head up, and what she saw took her to a whole other world.

Ultear was, in fact, in tears.

"U-Ultear!?" Lucy covered her mouth with her hand, and dropped her backpack to walk over towards the woman who held sadness in her face. "Ultear, i-im so sorry! Did I offend you?"

Ultear took a large step back, holding up one hand in front of her to block Lucy while covering her face with the other. "D-Don't look at me!" She tried to yell, but her tears lowered her voice down, "Get out of here! Leave me alone!"

Lucy hesitated, wondering if she should do as Ultear wished, but decided otherwise. She grabbed Ultear's hand with both of her's, lowering her arm down. "Ultear, you helped me." She reached over and pulled off the hand that was covering Ultear's red-colored face, forcing the woman to look at her. "Now let me help _you_." Her voice was firm, but filled with every inch of care.

Ultear sniffed, pulling both hands out of Lucy's grasp and wiping her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before staring into the mirror. "Lucy, when I kissed Natsu at the arcade..." Ultear winced with disgust at the thought, her tone turning crisp. "I _hated_ every second of it!"

Lucy blinked in disbelief. She already knew why Ultear did it, but she could not imagine _hating_ giving Natsu a kiss. Though that was probably because she was in love with him. "Why did you hate it?"

Ultear seemed afraid to tell Lucy what was bothering her. What could Ultear possibly be afraid about? "You won't offend me as bad as I offended you just now, I promise."

Ultear shook her head. "No, you did not offend me Lucy." She turned to her with a struggling gaze. "You see...that kiss, it hurt Lisanna. That's what I hated about it more than anything."

"...What?" _How could hurting Lisanna affect Ultear like this?_

"And...there's also the fact that, well...Natsu is a...well, a guy."

"...Huh!?"


	16. Closure

Ultear could not help but let out a small laugh, though she was still obviously nervous. "Why are you so surprised?"

Lucy's face was frozen, mouth hung wide open. She blinked, forcing herself out of the shocked state she fell into. "Well, I don't know what to think! The school's man-"

She shut her mouth tight with quick realization; she was not about to tell this woman about the rumors that went on around her. Especially with this new information about Ultear, she would be crushed about all the assumptions.

 _Wouldn't she?_

But Lucy had realized a word too late. Ultear laughed a second time, only the nervous wall around her tone fell down. " _Man-napper_. Yeah, I know Lucy. I've heard it all."

Lucy tipped her head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "You don't care what people say or think about you?" She only wished she could be like that.

Ultear shook her head, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Why would I?" She gazed at the mirror once more, as if she was studying her own reflection. She worried Lucy a bit; a reflection can take you back to times of regret. "Don't you see?" Ultear continued with a lower voice, pinched with sadness. "I _want_ people to think of me that way. No one has to know the truth."

"What's so bad about that?"

Ultear broke her gaze with her mirrored self and Lucy sensed a cold field of anger when she recieved her glance. "What's so bad about it is that i'm popular, and have so many friends! If they knew that I was attracted to women, they would probably be weirded out and-"

"Who cares?"

"What!?"

"Who cares what your friends think?" Lucy remarked, and gave her confident a smile. "I mean, wasn't it you that said your own happiness matters before even your best friends?"

Ultear stood in silence, and Lucy could tell she was searching for words to spit back at her. But after a minute had passed, she had given up, and began to walk out. "I have to go."

Lucy grabbed her hand, surprised she was able to stop the stronger woman. "I won't say a word, but you need to."

Ultear just shook her head. Before she could reply, Lucy continued. "It's not fair for you to be unhappy to make your friends happy. And if they really are your true friends, they will still love you no matter who you want to kiss."

Lucy released her, and a second later she slowly turned around, her long black hair gracing itself to reveal a new expression to encounter: shyness.

"So...it doesn't bother you the slightest that I...want to kiss your best friend?"

Lucy began to walk out with Ultear. The school was almost empty by this time, with a few faculty members still chatting in the hall. The two waved to them as they made their exit. "Not at all," Lucy whispered so none would overhear their conversation, "But I don't think Liz has ever had a crush on a girl."

Ultear bit her lip, the nervous expression rushing back. Lucy knew that the woman's heart must have been beating uncontrollably, having this conversation with someone when she was always too scared and shy to do so before. "Well, she asked me to kiss her once."

The blonde came to a sudden stop in her tracks. "I'm sorry... _what_?"

"Shh!" Ultear ended the conversation quick as her friends approached her. Without saying farewell to Lucy, she walked over to them quickly, as if to cover up that they were having a talk at all.

It did not bother Lucy at all though. She wished that Ultear could stand up for herself like Lucy figured out, but that was not the main issue at the moment.

Lisanna asked Ultear to kiss her? When? Where?

 _...Why?_

And why had she not told Lucy this? Surely if it really had happened, Lisanna would have told her afterwards. The two were the best of friends, and they told each other everything. No matter how embarrassing, or shameful. It really hurt Lucy that her best friend would never have told her about this. She knew that there were some things they wanted to keep to themselves, but still...a situation like that, Lisanna usually would not have hestitated to discuss with her best friend.

Unless, possibly, Lisanna thought that her own best friend would have judged her.

Maybe Lucy really did not know everything about Lisanna.

* * *

"I didn't see you on the bus this afternoon."

"I...was talking to someone."

"Who would that be?"

"You will be pissed."

Lucy had walked home. It was about a thirty-minute walk home from the school. She had missed her ride by talking to Ultear for too long. Lucy did not mind much though; sometimes it was good to take a walk. Walking lended her plenty of time to think about her life, her situations, and calmed her stress for some time.

It was dangerous because of cars though, so Lucy decided to not tell her dad about her walk home. He told her the neighborhood was fine, but that was as far as she could go.

She was walking with Lisanna now. She walked straight to her door and asked Ms. Strauss if her best friend felt like taking a walk. Not only did she want to talk to Lisanna about what Ultear said, but she wanted closure on everything. She wanted to be honest with her about her feelings for Natsu. After she had reflected Ultear's words earlier, she felt more confident, and wanted to make peace with her friends.

Lucy released a breath. "I was talking to Ultear."

Lisanna was speechless for a couple seconds before her disgusted tone broke through. "Oh. Why _her_?"

Lucy closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to put her best friend on the spot, but she had to figure things out. She had to make things right for everyone. Something had to have happened between her best friend and her former rival in the past, otherwise why would Ultear just make what she stated before up?

"Lisanna..." She gulped, "Did something happen between you and Ultear?"

Lucy could tell she had gotten her answer when the short girl beside her stopped walking and stared at the concrete below. Her shoulders sunk, and her eyes filled with tears. "W-What did she tell you?"

Lucy immediately dove into a tight hug with her smaller friend. She was surprised as Lisanna trembled in her arms, her shoulder wet from her tears. "Lisanna, I would never judge you," She whispered. "I love you. You are my very best friend."

Lisanna squeezed Lucy tighter as she whispered back. "It was in middle school. She called me beautiful, and said she never had her first kiss..." She pulled away and wiped her eyes. "I told her I never have either, but I would like to kiss her and..."

Lucy was about to give her words of reassurance, but Lisanna's gaze lit with anger, burning across her face. "Then the _very_ next day, she decided she would rather date her popular guy friends when we got to high school instead, and that she never wanted to speak to me again!"

At first, Lucy was not sure what to say. She never knew Lisanna also liked girls. "So...was it a crush? Or were you just curious?"

Lisanna drooped her head down, her shoulders carrying weights. "If I was this upset about it, then it was definitely a crush."

"Why did you keep this from me?" Lucy tried to cover up her crushed feelings. How could Lisanna have not trusted her?

"Oh, Lucy. Don't feel bad. I was confused at the time on whether I should speak up or not. It was different you know?"

Lucy thought about it for a minute, and understood where her friend was coming from. Lucy herself never told her best friend about her feelings for Natsu.

Until now...

"Lisanna, I have something to say too." She prepared herself for her biggest fear yet.

To her surprise, Lisanna let out a slight laugh. "Go see him, Lucy."

Lucy blinked, failing to understand.

Lisanna rested her hand on Lucy's shoulder. Her smile showed every hint of approval. "Levy told me everything."

 _Levy_! A wave of guilt swallowed Lucy. Sure, she was ready for the truth to be released, but she still felt like she had ruined everything for Lisanna. "Are you sure? Because I know you-"

"Lucy," Her friend's blue eyes interrupting her, "Get out of here," she finished with a playful wink.

It took a moment for Lucy to register what Lisanna was telling her. All this time, Lucy had been regretting the idea of breaking her dearest friend's heart more than it already was. She had been torn, because she had felt either way, whichever route she took, she was hurting either Natsu or Lisanna. But Lucy realized, when Lisanna knew the truth, she supported her. She was not upset, angry, isolated. She was truly happy for Lucy.

Originally, Lucy thought she would feel worse for not saying something earlier, but she was too happy for regret.

As she gave her friend another long hug, because her happiness mattered too, she let Lisanna know: "Between me and you, Ultear wants to kiss you again."

* * *

"Miss Heartfilia?"

"Hello Mr. Dragneel!" Lucy tried her best to hide her shaking voice, which only resulted to her squeaking like a mouse. "M-May I speak to Natsu?"

Natsu's father always seemed intimidating, but right now, he had a huge smile on his face, and Lucy really was not sure why. Was he happy she was here?

"Give me one second," He nodded to her as he closed the door.

It was that moment that Lucy began to feel more dumb than ever. Her original plan was to discuss with Lisanna, and while finding closure with her, take the time to figure out what to say to Natsu to find closure with him. She never expected it would all be that easy with Lisanna, especially after everything she had been through, and how she had distanced herself from everyone. Lucy figured the last thing she would want to hear was that her best friend wanted to be with her ex-boyfriend.

Maybe she wasn't surprised? Lisanna could have seen it coming, considering the scene Lucy made on the bus recently.

She definitely owed Levy later. She was the best.

Lucy jumped when the door began to open again, even if she was waiting for it to happen. Natsu stood there, eyeing Lucy with a shameful look. He looked so tired, bags under his eyes. His hair was a mess, and his hands were trembling.

He looked depressed. Natsu was always a sensitive guy. He must have felt guilty for what he had said to Lucy, and afraid of losing her.

"Natsu...are you okay?" She managed to find the words.

"No."

Lucy flinched. His tone was nowhere near harsh, but the short answer caused her to feel uneasy.

"Why don't you come out here?"

Natsu gave her a look of disbelief. "You mean, you actually wanna talk to me?"

She shrugged. "Why else would I be here?"

Natsu stared at her for a few seconds, expressionless. He shut the door quietly and seemed to be moving slower than a turtle. When he got close enough to her, Lucy was able to scan his miserable look even more. He looked how she had felt. She felt helpless.

He seemed to be waiting for her to speak. Lucy felt too awkward to stand there and think of how to word her sentences, so she had questioned him about a walk, to which he agreed, not seeming to care either way.

And it hurt, too, because he loved taking walks with her. How could Lucy had done this to him?

She tried to hold back her tears as she spoke. "I-I'm sorry I made you feel this way."

Natsu heaved a rough sigh, shaking his head. "Well, you can't help how you make me feel."

"No, it was wrong of me to say-"

He covered her mouth with his hand, his dark eyes like fire lighting up the darkening space between them.

"You know what I mean."

Lucy brought her hands up to his and held it tightly. "I never wanted to hurt Lisanna. But in the process of sparing Lisanna's feelings, I damaged your's." She intertwined her fingers with his, and smiled at the warmth. "Please forgive me."

He blinked at her in confusion. "Forgive you for what? I was never angry with you Luce." She lifted her head up and caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes. "Lisanna's your best friend. Of course you want to protect her. I respect that."

Lucy felt her heart race. She had to make this right!

"B-But you're the...the steak...to my potatoes!"

The look she got from him made her feel like a fucking dumbass. "Y-You know...uh..." She felt her face burning hot like a stove. "We had dinner...steak, potatoes..."

Natsu's eyes raised, and before long a smile grew on his face. He tried to hold it back, but he failed miserably. He went to town laughing at her. He held his stomach, and tried to keep himself from falling on the ground.

"H-Hey!" Lucy's face resembled a tomato. "S-Stop laughing at me!"

"A-Are you stupid?" His face hurt from laughing. That was the only thing that stopped him. He would have made fun of this cute girl all night if he could. "That's the best you could come up with?"

"Fine! I'll just go home!" She turned around and walked the other direction towards her house. She felt so stupid. He'd never want to be with her now. She thought it would be cute, but maybe she should have kept her mouth shut.

Still, she could not deny the fact that she was relieved she could make him smile.

"Woah, Woah, Woah!" He caught up to her and grabbed her hand. "Did you really mean what you said?"

Lucy turned around, but let her hair fall in front of her red face so he wouldn't see. "I know it was ridiculous, but yes."

"Even if Lisanna could be hurt?"

"She found someone else I think."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Natsu grabbed both of her hands, and seemed shy himself. He still looked tired, but his eyes were shining. "So...are we dating now?"

"Well, that depends. Are you going to ask me out on one?"

"Oh yeah," Natsu got down on one knee, holding onto her hand. "Lucy, will you go out with me?"

She giggled, still having trouble believing this was no dream. "Sure, why not?"

Natsu stood up and held her close, his head against her's. His voice dropped as deep as the ocean. "Is it wrong to kiss before the first date?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, and made her move on her pink-haired idiot.


	17. Her World

"Woah there! Put the car in drive before you hit the gas," Lucy's father had warned, though his tone had been calm as the slight breeze of the wind outside. It was rather surprising, and quite a talent to keep his nerves level.

Especially when he was teaching his sixteen-year-old daughter how to drive.

"Oh, right," Lucy shook her head, her mind filled with too much fear of stupidity and not so much on how a car works. She figured it was something anyone who doesn't drive knows. You put the thing in drive, so that one can actually _drive_. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Jude gave the hair at the peak of her head a ruffle-a gesture that signified comfort. "You haven't driven into a neighbor's house yet, so you're good!"

Lucy rolled her eyes, hands gripped firmly on the wheel as if she were holding on for her dear life. "Very settling."

"I'm just trying to lift your confidence, sweetheart."

"I've figured that out."

Her father squinted his eyes through the little bit of sun that had yet to rise. "So...am I no help?"

"Hmm..." The driver-in-training thought about how to put it nicely. After the events of the past few months, the constant hurdles that forced her to compete in jumping over, she had decided she was going to go against even the idea of lying from now on. It was a known fact that if someone's voice raised in pitch when they talked, they were probably lying about something. But even when hers was doing the same, she was sincerely telling the truth as she told him: "I'd...rather have you than a driver's ed teacher."

He stared at her for a moment longer, attempting to detect what she had really felt, before admitting defeat. Reading a teenage girl's mind was like solving a 500-piece puzzle. One had to find a humongous amount of little pieces and then take the time to stick them together, and even then, you only have one picture-one idea of what the mind could be competing against. "Whatever you say. Now keep your foot on the break, put it in drive, and press your foot on the gas gently."

Lucy felt her arms trembling, and she wondered how she was going to control the wheel with uncontrollable arms. However, if she learned anything from her struggles, she had to step out of her comfort zone in order to accomplish her goals. So, she inhaled a deep, shaking breath, and performed what her father had rehearsed with her many times.

"Great!" Her father praised her, his smile beaming brighter than the sun's rays.

Lucy decided to stick with the negative side of the story. "I'm going, like, two miles an hour dad," She seemed to do that whenever she was nervous.

"That's better than doing thirty in this neighborhood!" He stuck to the positive side, "Now, press down more, and glance at your speedometer." His voice grew more firm than his daughter's grip on the wheel. "But just glance. Keep ninety-nine percent of your attention on the road in front of you."

 _I know that!_ Lucy kept to herself in frustration. The main reason why she was nervous was because she was afraid of driving by Natsu's house.

What if he saw her driving? What if he was unimpressed and didn't like her anymore?

Or-even worse-what if she wrecked into his mailbox? Or his house? And his dad forbid him from dating her anymore!

Lucy sighed and shook her head. That was completely ridiculous of her to think that. And she knew more than she really knew herself that if she kept those thoughts in her head, they would happen. She just needed to be cautious.

Something she had noticed awhile back was that driving was really no different than walking through a crowded grocery store. When one was approaching an isle they wanted to turn down, they would have to look around to make sure no one else was turning or walking past them. One had to stay on one side while traffic beside them stayed on the other.

The thought didn't really aid her confidence, but just the realization was interesting to her. Just like reading a book, she thought it was amazing how you could compare different settings in life to others.

The idea calmed her nerves a tiny bit, to say the least. She was willing to take any broom to sweep her worries away.

"Isn't that the boy you're dating?" Her father's words cut through her mind like a knife and she hit the break.

There he was, in the yard mowing the lawn- _shirtless_.

 _Wonderful_

"Y-Yeah, that's him."

Lucy had informed her father the truth-that he had been correct about her feelings for Natsu. She had told him everything, how she had felt about hurting Lisanna, and Lisanna and Natsu's fued. She had told him that her and Lisanna worked it out, and were still the best of friends.

Jude had agreed that it wouldn't be right for Natsu to use Lisanna to get over her anyway, and everything had played out like it was supposed to. Lucy could read her father faster than any book however, and she knew he was not too thrilled about his daughter dating, which was expected.

"Can I go say hi to him real quick?" Lucy questioned with guilt in her stomach. She felt like she was ditching her dad; she hated that feeling.

Her father just gave an unreadable smile. "Of course."

Lucy took another breath and stepped out of the car, walking slowly over to him. As a full-time reader, she could not help but take note of everything she had her eyes on. She took note of Natsu's muscles as he pushed the mower, sweat rolling down his chest. What mattered more was his focused look that was a little hidden behind his big headphones that took over his ears. But she noticed how his eyes narrowed down, and there was a glint in his eyes that made Lucy's heart thud. She could not describe it, but she knew she was so lucky to be dating him.

When she had gotten close enough to him, he took a glance, then whipped his face around when he noticed who was there. His eyes refocused on her, but it was fascinating how his expression could change from seriousess to infatuation. He gave her a smile that warmed her chest, and he somehow turned the mower off without taking his gaze off of her.

 _Show-off._ She read from him with an amused grin.

"Hey there, sweat-face. Working hard?"

Natsu removed his headphones, wiping a hand across his forehead. "Eh," He managed to get through his panting, "somethin' like that."

Lucy giggled, and Natsu took note himself that the sight was the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen. "So, what?" He stepped closer to her, the sweat on his chest glistening in the sunlight. "Were you hoping to see me with my shirt off or something?"

Lucy's face felt hot once again. "Natsu! First of all, take that smug off your face!"

He playfully wiped his hand across his face and stopped his grin.

She shook her head. "Second of all, I was practicing my driving and just happened drive by your house-"

"You just _happened_ to," His grin returned.

Lucy gritted her teeth, speaking through her closed mouth. "My dad is here, Natsu."

Natsu's grin disappeared as he realized a car was parked a few feet down from is house. His eyes squinted at it, his hand over his them to block the sun. "Oh, you're right! He is here."

"Well don't stare!" Lucy scolded him in a half-raised voice, one half upset and the other embarrassed. She loved Natsu tons, but he could really be an idiot sometimes, that part she did mean on her bus-rant.

Natsu ignored her for a couple more seconds before obeying her. He had a hopeful new expression plastered on his face, his eyes mooning over her as if she were the Earth and he was her moon. "Did...you want me to ask now?"

Lucy felt her heartbeat race again. The organ pounded in her chest, as if it were trying to force her in the right direction, but her nerves caused her hesitation.

The two had gone on three dates together since Natsu had asked her out. Two were at a restaurant, and one they went bowling. Each date, the two had the time of their lives. Lucy was afraid that she would start feeling guilty again about dating her best friend's ex, but Lisanna had told her countless times before then to not look at it that way. Instead, she urged Lucy to look at it as her dream come true, the reality. No fake feelings to hide true feelings. It was all the real deal.

Plus, in return, Lucy urged Lisanna to speak to Ultear. It did take a lot out of her to encourage Lisanna, but her best friend finally gave in and later informed Lucy that Ultear had taken Lisanna's hand, marched up to her friends, and told them that she was dating Lisanna. They had all been shocked, but when Lisanna stepped up herself and asked them who Ultear's true friends were, they all reassured that they did not think any less of her.

Why should they? She liked a girl. So what? Hell, they might have been more surprised about the fact that Lisanna was way out of their league.

But now, what Natsu wanted to do was take the next step: Ask her father if they could be offically a couple.

Natsu, in fact, was the one that wanted to wait to ask her dad. He not only cared about what Lucy thought of him, but more so what her own father thought. He had told Lucy in his own words that he wanted her father to know more than anything that he had what it took to be a decent boyfriend. Her father already kind of knew him, and Lucy had informed Natsu that her father already knew and was willing to allow it. But Natsu was raised by a father who kept his word that a father is the main obstacle when it comes to a girl. If you've won the father's heart, you've won her heart.

Lucy grasped his hand, not seeming to care if she got sweat on her own hand. Her own palms were sweating from nervousness herself. "Sure, come on."

It seemed like it took an hour to get to the car for Lucy. She was feeling all kinds of emotions right now. What would her father think? Would he be sad? Would he think that he would lose time with daughter after this? Would Lucy having Natsu cause him to miss her mother more and fall back into his depressed state?

She shook the harassing thoughts away. She was about to do it again-to forget everything that she had learned.

Her own happiness was the key to unlock her father's happiness.

As they approached the passenger's side, Jude had rolled down the window. "Hello, Natsu!" He greeted, though Lucy could detect the uneasy look in his eyes.

"Hello sir," Natsu squeezed Lucy's hand to signal his departure from her in order to step closer to the door. "Um, sir...I actually wanted to let you know that I..."  
He gulped, and Lucy noticed he was trembling, and she also discovered a look of pure amusement in her father's eyes.

He was so getting a kick out of this.

But as he spoke, though his body trembled, his face never lost its determination and his voice was strong, powerful with emotion supporting his words, and Lucy fell for him even more. How could he look so charming when he was nervous?

"I adore your daughter. She means the world to me. And you're probably going to say that i'm just a teenage boy and I have no clue what love is, but-"

"I have no right," Jude cut in, "I was in love with the mother of that amazing young woman behind you at your age."

Natsu's eyes were widened with a relieved shock, but yet he continued. "Well, because you are her father, what you think matters to me more than anything." He shifted his legs a little, and Lucy predicted that he was uncomfortable with his next sentence. "Do you...do you think i'm right for her? Or do you think she should wait for something better?"

Jude smiled, and his eyes skipped over him. "I think that's up to her to decide."

Natsu turned around to follow his gaze, and Lucy could see that his uneasiness made its way to his face.

All she did was give a smile. "Natsu, you're stupid."

That huge smile bigger than the sky krept up on his face again, and he turned back to Jude, the determination returning, but his trembling fled. "Well, then...if I asked Lucy to be my girlfriend officially, would that be okay with you sir?"

Jude presented a small chuckle, his eyes lighting up. "Do me a favor, boy, and call me Jude from now on, will you?"

Natsu's eyebrows raised up to his hairline. "Y-You mean...?"

Jude nodded, giving Natsu a wink, as a gift to him of his approval.

Natsu turned around to the girl of his dreams. "Well, Luce, will you-?"

She practically ran into his arms and kissed his forehead, her hands running through his hair. She had the perfect view of her world right there in front of her, and took the time to cherish it. "Duh."

Soon after, things were back to the way they used to be. Lucy had accomplished her goal. The next day, Natsu drove her to The Pizza House. Once again, she had been sitting with her greatest friends: Natsu and Lisanna. To add on, Lisanna had brought her new girlfriend along. And Levy had met up with them, and reassured Lucy that being the only single one there, she could play a fantastic third wheel.

Lisanna and Natsu had joked with each other again. She was still determined to beat him at hydro-thunder.

"Hey!" Levy chimed enthusiastically, "Why don't we all hit the arcade after-"

"No," Lisanna interrupted, "Let's not go there again." Although there was a hint of playfulness in her voice as well.

Ultear placed her arm around Lisanna's shoulders, and the sight of one of her best friend's embarrassed blushes amused them all. "Oh hon, i'm not going to kiss anyone. I have you now, so what would be the point?"

Lisanna's face fell to the floor. Everyone had to strain to hear her over the loudness of the busy restaurant. "I'm afraid of someone kissing you."

Now Ultear looked amused. She must have loved her girlfriend's embarrassing looks and comments. "I'll slap them if they try to," she reassurred.

"I must say," Natsu put in, "I really hated you at first, but now that I know what you were really trying to do," He squeezed Lucy's hand under the table, making her shift with silent excitement in her seat, "I totally don't blame ya."

Ultear laughed, her bright red smile gleaming. "Why thank you, Natsu."

"You know," Levy added in, "You could have done it in a more reasonable way though."

Lucy covered her blue-haired friend's mouth with her hand. "Shhhh! We don't talk about that!"

Levy shrugged. "I'm the third wheel today. It's what i'm here to do."

Sentence after sentence, Lucy watched as her table filled with more laughter than ever before. From Levy, to Lisanna, to Natsu, she was just now taking in how much happier everyone had been from before. It was good to see Lisanna truly smile again.

Her last glance was on Ultear, who was never more happy to be herself. She smiled at her gratefully, and Ultear caught her glimpse, returning it.

Because they had both been honest, both addressed and taken care of their own feelings.

Lucy Heartfilia had never been happier.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello fellow followers! Well, this has been a long and fun journey, but now this story has come to an end. This is actually the first story I've ever completed, so I actually feel really accomplished at the moment. I totally didn't have tears in my eyes when I wrote that last line or anything...**

 **Just so you guys know, I am going to post this whole story on my wattpad account! So if you have any friends of yours who are fans of nalu and own wattpad, and are looking for a new nalu story to read, feel free to let them know!**

 **I'm sorry for those of you who are kind of disappointed that this story was only 17 chapters. It actually wasn't supposed to be really long, one of those short and sweet stories.**

 **Anyways, my next story I am continuing Unforgettable. You can find it on my account, there are only four chapters posted right now, but I am going to put my full attention on that, as I also prepare for two piano performances for myself and for a friend! :,)**

 **You guys will find this out when you look into the story, but Unforgettable** **is going to be very different from this story. I am expecting it to have a lot more chapters. It is also kind of dark, some of you may not be able to read it. But it does get better I promise! Another difference between the two stories is I would rate this story as a 13+ age story, whereas Unforgettable** **I would probably rate 16-17+, just because there will be more explicit content.**

 **But do not worry! Along with Unforgettable, I will also be writing a story with my own characters on wattpad! You can easily make an account if you would like to read it. It will be a GL, (GirlxGirl), and the content in that story will be more than this one, but not really that bad. I just want to make sure my readers are comfortable with what they read, so I like to place warnings at first!**

 **Anyways, thank you so much for all your nice reviews and constructive criticism, and supporting me through writing my first story! You guys mean a lot to me and I can not wait to write more! Also, if you have any suggestions for new stories, please let me know! I'm willing to take any requests!**

 **Best wishes to all,**

 **-Shertimes**


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